"Letters of E. B. White" touches on a wide variety of subjects, including the "New Yorker" editor who became the author's wife; their dachshund... read full description
reviews
Aug 27, 2007
Consuela
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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 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 More...
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Jan 20, 2011
Donna Jo
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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 More...
In this book of letters that begins when he was eleven years old, it is possible to enjoy his personality and his writing More...
May 20, 2010
Dana
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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.
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Jan 31, 2007
bp
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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.
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Feb 26, 2011
Dave
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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 ot
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Jul 27, 2008
Myrna
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Here's a sample from this book that is simply to die for, from “The Hotel of the Total Stranger"
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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 th 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 th More...
May 22, 2011
Charlotte
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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...
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Jul 12, 2009
Julie H.
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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.
Dec 21, 2007
Pa
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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
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Nov 06, 2008
Marge
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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
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Feb 19, 2010
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!
Dec 18, 2011
Anna
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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
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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!!!!
Dec 17, 2009
Letha
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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 More...
He also was a fierce defender of the First Amendment. I felt like he was a valued friend by the More...
May 07, 2011
Stephen
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It is the last book of letters I will ever read. That being said I have kept my heavily self annotated copy.
Jan 19, 2009
Jan
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People don't write letters like this anymore. (deep sigh).
Email has destroyed letter writing.
Email has destroyed letter writing.
Feb 21, 2010
Wendy
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I loved getting to know E. B. White through his letters--and this massive book is filled with them.
Mar 16, 2007
Larissa
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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.
Nov 13, 2008
Patrick
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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.
Oct 26, 2009
Amanda
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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.
May 08, 2008
Bought this at City Lights in San Francisco a few months ago... it's been great to pick it up, flip to a random letter, and glean a wee bit of insight from the marvelous Mr. White.
Jul 16, 2008
Kirsten
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I'll be reading this bit by bit for years. It's sweet to pace my reading according to where EB is in his life. Like, where was EB in the summer of his 26th year?
May 06, 2010
Rebecca
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It is long and is taking me years to read, but I like it. It inspires me to write long letters to friends and family.
May 2010 - still reading it, still liking it.
May 2010 - still reading it, still liking it.
Oct 21, 2008
Storey
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This writing is delicious! Because it is letters you can pick it up and put it down. I adore it.
Apr 09, 2008
Annie
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I love going back to this one; White's incomparable voice and wit inspire me.
