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64th out of 158 books
—
26 voters
Letters of E.B. White
Originally edited by Dorothy Lobrano Guth, and revised and updated by Martha White
Foreword by John Updike
These letters are, of course, beautifully written but above all personal, precise, and honest. They evoke E.B. White's life in New York and in Maine at every stage of his life. They are full of memorable characters: White's family, the New Yorker staff and contributors,...more
Foreword by John Updike
These letters are, of course, beautifully written but above all personal, precise, and honest. They evoke E.B. White's life in New York and in Maine at every stage of his life. They are full of memorable characters: White's family, the New Yorker staff and contributors,...more
Hardcover, Revised, 736 pages
Published
November 28th 2006
by HarperCollins Publishers
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I read this book years ago but I'm reading it again because his granddaughter has recently added new letters. It's a wonderful read.
At the beginning he tells of his adventures with a fellow Cornell graduate where they bought an old model T and traveled around the country getting jobs only when they ran out of money. When they were in Kentucky in 1922 they caught the horse-racing bug and decided to bet some money. White's travel companion, "Cush" (Howard Cushman) had done research and tried to fi...more
At the beginning he tells of his adventures with a fellow Cornell graduate where they bought an old model T and traveled around the country getting jobs only when they ran out of money. When they were in Kentucky in 1922 they caught the horse-racing bug and decided to bet some money. White's travel companion, "Cush" (Howard Cushman) had done research and tried to fi...more
E.B. White, who is perhaps best known for his three children's books (Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web, and The Trumpet of the Swan), also wrote adult book, squibs for the New Yorker magazine, and revised and edited the Strunk Element's of Style. For a number of years he lived on a farm on the Maine coast where he was partial to poultry, especially of the goose variety.
In this book of letters that begins when he was eleven years old, it is possible to enjoy his personality and his writing style....more
In this book of letters that begins when he was eleven years old, it is possible to enjoy his personality and his writing style....more
He wrote letters to family, friends and fans every bit as well as he wrote is New Yorker pieces and his books. Worth reading for this snippet alone -- "I can only assume you tripped over the First Amendment and mistook it for the kitchen cat." I. Love. This. Man.
If you came to appreciate him via Charlotte's Web, or his classic New Yorker pieces--or via The Elements of Style, co-authored with his former teacher William Strunk--you'll probably enjoy E. B. White's personal letters too. His correspondence was as witty and stylish as his published work. Every few weeks, on average, he'd write at length to an editor or family member, clacking away on a battered Smith-Corona, seldom rewriting. You can almost hear the voice behind the words--a smiling and jaunt...more
White wrote famously: "Omit needless words".
Therefore, in his honor, I shall omit the majority of my review.
Just read this master of the English language.
Therefore, in his honor, I shall omit the majority of my review.
Just read this master of the English language.
Not where anyone should start reading E.B. White. Though this collection gives consistent pleasure to anyone who just likes to read good, clear, amusing writing, it wouldn't be enough to make a case for White the writer without One Man's Meat, Charlotte's Web, or The Elements of Style. Also, since this was put together when White was alive, and since White was well aware of what biographers and interpreters can do, there are not very many major revelations or controversial attitudes towards othe...more
Biographies of E.B. White and history books of the 20th century have both been written before, but I would venture that rarely would you find the merging of two hearts more intimately woven and on unadorned display. This personal correspondence that spans the years between the 9 year-old Elwyn and the nearly 86 year-old Andy is unmatched, in my reading of people, in it's capacity to capture the essence of a man and the personal implications of the century that shaped him.
At almost 700 pages, the...more
At almost 700 pages, the...more
Here's a sample from this book that is simply to die for, from “The Hotel of the Total Stranger"
------------------
"Mr. Volente has just arrived at the train station in Manhattan, returning for a visit after years away. He is riding in a cab toward his hotel, on a steamy summer morning.
"New York is stretched in midsummer languor under her trees in her thinnest dress, idly and beautifully to the eyes of Mr. Volente, her lover. She lay this morning early in the arms of the heat, humorously and ind...more
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"Mr. Volente has just arrived at the train station in Manhattan, returning for a visit after years away. He is riding in a cab toward his hotel, on a steamy summer morning.
"New York is stretched in midsummer languor under her trees in her thinnest dress, idly and beautifully to the eyes of Mr. Volente, her lover. She lay this morning early in the arms of the heat, humorously and ind...more
So far very good. The early letters are not all that interesting but give an important introduction to White the person. Of course it is a very one sided view, only reading the letters from White to others and not vice versa, but the editor does a good job of giving context without being overly intrusive. I do enjoy White's nonfiction reading style and this big book provides ample opportunity to enjoy it. It is good for bedtime reading since the letters are in very manageable chunks.
Oh, how sad I am to be finished with this book. For over a month, I've been reading 20 pages or so every night before sleep, and I think I've been sleeping better. E.B. White was what the kids call a "class act," and these letters are by turns poignant and hilarious, with an emphasis on the funny. My writing must improve by osmosis after reading so many beautifully crafted sentences. This book also makes me want to move to a farm immediately. Perhaps we will acquire just two geese...
Construct (or reconstruct) your own understanding of beloved writer E.B. White on the basis of a wide sample of his correspondence. My personal favorites were the letters between White and his then-pregnant wife regarding matters not typically discussed openly between husbands and wives--their solution was to leave one another notes ostensibly authored by their curious pet. Gotta love it as a strategy for negotiating troublesome social conventions.
This collection contains many of E.B. White's letters to his wife Katharine White, the New York's former editor and one of its founders, his editors at various magazines, friends, brothers, sisters, children, step-children, and grandchildren. Again, I'm a nerd for buying this book but I do enjoy reading good authors' letters--they tell you much about the lives of the authors and ocassionally you see flashes of a genious mind at work. I just ordered Graham Greene's collection of letters and can't...more
so, yes, some letters can be a bit mundane but overall fascinating. e.b.'s descriptive phrasing still resonates;
"they say it isn't hot, but the salt sticks and the windows stick and the air smells like factory exhaust. even the roaches have turned their feet up and lie on their backs, breathing heavily."
"they say it isn't hot, but the salt sticks and the windows stick and the air smells like factory exhaust. even the roaches have turned their feet up and lie on their backs, breathing heavily."
I've never read a collection of letters, straight through, from cover to cover, before. I loved this book, for its wit, wisdom, and language. White's wry humor and his lively, thoughtful, descriptive letters were individually interesting, but the sweep of the letters, from youth to old age, chronicled an entire life, and most of the twentieth century. I found the experience of reading this book both comforting and warming, and also sad. Even ironic humor can't withstand the march of time. I'm no...more
Aug 20, 2012
Mary Kline
is currently reading it
this book will take me forever to read and I happily keep returning to it btwn other reads. EB's letters are honest, insightful, and a great reminder of how fantastic and expressive the English language is. Reading it keeps me honest and prevents my own hacking of the English language.
Feb 19, 2010
Catherine
is currently reading it
E.B. White--a bit of a dick? Not what I was expecting, but he's getting a lot cuter now he's married K. White. I can't tell if she's a good editor of his letters, or a good editor of his personality. I'll read more!
Oh that E.B. White were my happy-go-lucky grandfather and could sit me on his knee and tell me everything that's right with the world. An old man who isn't a cynic. How wonderfully refreshing.
Dec 10, 2009
Sweetman Sweetman
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
everyone
Recommended to Sweetman by:
I am a huge E.B. White fan
This man revives my love for the written letter. They are entertaining, interesting, funny, insightful. He says much in very little. Argh! To be able to write so well in even a scribbled note!!!!
Mar 26, 2013
Bradley
is currently reading it
read the letter to Charles Mueller when E.B. was preparing for Charles' arrival to his home in Brooklin, Maine. I've lived here in ME my whole life and have never heard of that town. can't wait to read the entire book.
The author of Charlotte's Web and Strunk & White's Elements of Style was also a prolific letter writer. The 600-plus pages of letters chronicle his adult life from the 1920s to the late 1970s. He wrote letters to both the well-known (John Irving, for instance) and the lesser-known (children who complained about the ending of Stuart Little). His responses were gracious, witty and elegant.
He also was a fierce defender of the First Amendment. I felt like he was a valued friend by the end of th...more
He also was a fierce defender of the First Amendment. I felt like he was a valued friend by the end of th...more
It is the last book of letters I will ever read. That being said I have kept my heavily self annotated copy.
People don't write letters like this anymore. (deep sigh).
Email has destroyed letter writing.
Email has destroyed letter writing.
I loved getting to know E. B. White through his letters--and this massive book is filled with them.
This is one of my favorite books!
Jan 16, 2009
Chris Blakesley
is currently reading it
Just getting started.
too dull to finish.
Snarky, yes. But I would have preferred a "greatest hits" to this.
Snarky, yes. But I would have preferred a "greatest hits" to this.
Hardly anyone writes letters anymore. This is a collection of letters written by the author of Charlotte's web and lots of magazine articles for the magazine The New Yorker. It was hard to read them all at once. I had to go back inbetween other books ot read a few and then put it down.
Mar 16, 2007
Larissa
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
usa,
read-by-recommendation
Not a heavyweight to be sure, but E.B. White is actually a very talented, touching writer. Very soft observations, very much an American writer from bygone days. It’s not life changing, but it’s really comforting reading, and he makes some really charming observations that sort of reaffirm one’s optimism.
E.B. White's voice is among the most human, the most humane, of any writer I know. His goodness, his decency - they inspire hope; and his use of language is unparalled. These personal letters offer the same wit, the same compassion, the same insights into his world of his other writings. A delight.
I got about a 1/3 of the way through this huge book and have to return it to the library. I have really enjoyed what I've read thus far, and will have to check it out again later to finish it up. Brilliant writer.
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Elwyn Brooks White was a leading American essayist, author, humorist, poet and literary stylist and author of such beloved children's classics as Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little, and The Trumpet of the Swan. He graduated from Cornell University in 1921 and, five or six years later, joined the staff of The New Yorker magazine. He authored over seventeen books of prose and poetry and was elected to t...more
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“I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority.”
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“People are, if anything, more touchy about being thought silly than they are about being thought unjust.”
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