“Poe, Twain, and Limburger Cheese” Revisited

Abstract:This article is in response to Steven E. Kemper’s “Poe, Twain, and Limburger Cheese,” which argues that Mark Twain’s “The Invalid’s Story” spoofs Poe’s “A Descent into the Maelström” by parodying its style and technique. After suggesting that Kemper’s argument has a few problems, this article posits that it is rather Poe’s “The Oblong Box” and “The Purloined Letter” that Mark Twain uses to spoof Poe by citing definite connections between the works. The article then concludes that “Descent” does have a connection with “The Invalid’s Story” in that both are tall tales.