Dear Reader – Alexander Chee-Curated Series of Letters

The firstten years of my life I moved around Greece and believed in ghosts. The line between the present and thelegend was crossed daily. My aunts and grandmothersbaked wheat for the dead, and placed food at cemeteries to nourish the spirits.They bought shoes for mummified saints who would wear them out and everyyear, at their name-day, needed replacement. Theymade stockings to please Kallikantzaroi, ancient demons during the holidays.All semireligious rituals from pre-Byzantinetimes...