“The book is marked by its clarity, that absence of adjectives which makes every idea understood at once. M. Clemenceau is shrewd, yet generous, a quality that Mark Twain attained in some of his short stories. He paints portraits not merely in two dimensions, but in three.”
+ Springf’d Republican p9a N 14 ’20 290w
“There is always the impression that the things related are things seen, not things invented, and that they are symbols of things not seen. Some of the equipment of a complete master of the genre indeed, he seems to lack.”
+ − The Times [London] Lit Sup p666 O 14 ’20 450w
CLEMENS, SAMUEL LANGHORNE (MARK TWAIN, pseud.). Moments with Mark Twain; selected by Albert Bigelow Paine. *$1.50 Harper 817
20–6374
One of the compiler’s excuses for offering this selection from the writings of Mark Twain to the public is to show that the latter was something more than a fun-maker. “The examples have been arranged chronologically, so that the reader, following them in order, may note the author’s evolution—the development of his humor, his observation, his philosophy and his literary style. They have been selected with some care, in the hope that those who know the author best may consider him fairly represented.” (Foreword)
Booklist 16:305 Je ’20
“Well-chosen selections from his works chronologically arranged to show evolution of style and thought as well as characteristic humor. Useful for quotation hunters.”