I have to confess that I seem to be about the only person on the face of the planet who's not a big Mark Twain fan. But after the Enron debacle, and in light of the affluenza sweeping our consumerist society, I recently went back to reread *The Gilded Age*. The more things change, the more they stay the same! Twain's dissection of unscrupulous tycoons wanting to get richer, corrupt senators jumping in bed with the tycoons by cutting them sweet political deals, and get-rich crazy middle class types who kiss up for their cut of the pie could've all been taken from last night's news. A brilliant and occasionally hilarious portrait of what happens to individuals in a souless age mesmerized by the almighty buck. A good warning to us today. I wish it could be required reading for everybody coming of age in these fast-paced times. (It's probably too late to do much good for Enron-type execs.)

One of the bonuses of this Library of America edition is that it includes *The American Claimnant,* a sequel to *Gilded Age*. I'd never heard of it before, and in all honesty didn't enjoy it as much as *Gilded*. But it's a good read for anybody with an afternoon of leisure time.