This companion volume to Budd's earlier volume covering 1867-1910, presents essays which reflect the reality of Mark Twain's staying power, suggest his importance for writers who came after him, value Twain's appeal for the folk, oral, mythic and visual modes and encapsulate his significance for Western society since 1910. The centennial of Twain's birth stirred up stocktaking in 1935 and the next wave in 1960 seized the 50th anniversary of his death as a pretext. The essays demonstrate a fresh cycle of biographical analysis. Other topics covered include: Twain's views on education and religion; his use of humor and the comic pose; Twain and Bernard Shaw; Twain and Charlie Chaplin as heroes of popular culture; Twain and Pope; Twain, Mencken and the higher goofyism; and Twain and the American tradition. Contributors include: Archibald Henderson, H.L. Mencken, Robert Herrick, Mark Van Doren and Herman Wouk. ISBN 0-8161-8652-9 : $31.00.