"Twain was so good with crowds that he became, in competition with singers and dancers and actors and acrobats, one of the most popular performers of his time. It is so unusual, and so psychologically unlikely for a great writer to be a great performer, too, that I can think of only two similar cases -- Homer's perhaps, and Moliere's." -Kurt Vonnegut
Among all of the quotes that I read on Mark Twain, this quote was most interesting to me. It stood out for a variety of reasons. First, having learned something this semester about Vonnegut, I was able to appreciate and perhaps think of influences and thought that would lead to Vonnegut making the comment on Twain. Vonnegut's writing was not heavily praised and Dr. Williams commented that he would not necessarily praise the quality of writing of Vonnegut. However, the thought of Vonnegut was dense and could be seen as a kind of art form. The comparison he made to singers and dancers and other artists I believe gives a great sense of the kind of talent Twain was.
I didn't give this quote much thought when I first read it, but I'm glad you brought it up again. It's great to hear a little bit more about Twain's character and how he was a truly captivating performer. Also, pretty neat you chose a quote by an author that we studied extensively this semester.
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