Re: YASID: I'm a big fan, Mr Clemens

Danny Sichel wrote:
I remember this scene in particular.

Accidental time-traveler (I'm pretty sure he had a genetic propensity for it) winds up in the early 1890s. At a World's Fair, he meets up with Sam "Mark Twain" Clemens, and introduces himself as a fan of _A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court_.

Clemens smiles, and says "that's odd, seeing as how it won't be published for another year or so."

Protagonist is stunned - he'd planned on breaking this to Clemens gently, or possibly on keeping it secret(?), or... well, I don't remember what exactly. For a time-traveler to that era to approach Clemens is not a new idea. Anyway, he thinks Clemens has figured it out.

Instead, Clemens makes the logical conclusion: "you've been to England. It's been available there since last summer."

I also remember a frisson of sensawunda when Clemens and the protagonist are walking through the fair, chatting, and they stop at an exhibit which is... just a huge ***-glass window. The protagonist can't figure out what he's supposed to be looking at - is the exhibit empty? Then he realizes that what Clemens is so astounded by is this huge enormous piece of glass that's uniformly flat and smooth, and so transparent you can read a newspaper through it. For several days after reading that scene, I kept getting this sense of awe as I would walk down the street and realize that *every single house* had one of those enormous windows.

Anyone?

HAH!

I got it myself!

Someone on here mentioned the movie "Time After Time" with HG Wells and Jack the Ripper, and I looked on Wikipedia, and in the alternate meanings, there was a mention of the "Pastmaster" novels by Allen Appel. I read synopses of them, and wasn't sure, so I forwarded this to him to doublecheck. He confirms that this is his _Twice Upon A Time_.

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