Letters to Jenny

by Piers Anthony

In February 1989, science fiction writer Piers Anthony, author of the Xanth series, received a moving letter. It came from a woman whose daughter, Jenny, was in a coma as a result of severe injuries caused by a drunk driver. She asked Anthony to write to Jenny, an avid fan of his, in the hope that a letter from him would evoke some response. Her request resulted in a series of warm, supportive, and humorous letters written weekly from Anthony to Jenny. These were read to the patient by her mother. The original letters Anthony wrote between February 1989 and 1990, reproduced here along with Anthony’s comments, reveal the author’s wit, humanism, and social conscience. Jenny has come out of her coma, but is still confined to a wheelchair. Anthony also named a character in his next Xanth novel after Jenny, whose limited but definite physical responses to his letters indicated how important they were to her.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, Science Fiction, Writing, Science Fiction Fantasy

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Though he spent the first four years of his life in England, Piers never returned to live in his country of birth after moving to Spain and immigrated to America at age six. After graduating with a B.A. from Goddard College, he married one of his fellow students and and spent fifteen years in an assortment of professions before he began writing fiction full-time.

Piers is a self-proclaimed environmentalist and lives on a tree farm in Florida with his wife. They have two grown daughters.

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many years ago I discovered the Xanth series and read it with delight through book 19 at which point my attention wandered into other avenues, but the other day as I was scrolling through ebooks available at my library I saw this one and remembering Jenny's story from Isle of View I was interested enough to check it out. This collection of letters provides an interesting glimpse into the life of this man and also is something of a time capsule for the year 1989. There are things I came to admire about Anthony and also areas where I disagree (sometimes strongly) with him. There are a couple disappointments I have with this book. The first is that it is quite repetitive; I am sure that reading each letter a week apart they would not have felt that way, but read altogether in one place it gets a bit boring. Second, although I realize the original book was printed quite some time ago, the ebook was only created recently and I would have appreciated an update on Jenny at the end.

Popsugar 2017: a book of letters

[John (Hey Y'all Listen Up) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I admire Anthony for writing these letters. Anthony describing meeting Jenny is the highlight of the book. However, reading these letters back to back doesn't make for the best reading experience. Anthony attempts at humor start to wear thin and he can be repetitive from letter to letter. I was in high school during the year these letters were written, and Anthony occasionally mentions events which I remember happening. Overall, it was worth reading.

[Jenne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Have I mentioned that Piers Anthony is an ass?

[Kerridwen Mangala · Rating 1 out of 5]

Jenny is a little girl who got hit by a car and returned from a coma with her mother reading Xanth books to her. Piers Anthony started writing letters to her and later incorporated her as a character in Xanth. The book is exactly what it says: his letters to Jenny (published with her and her parents' permission and I believe it benefits her?) but not a story.

Piers Anthony is a tremendous author and one of only a handful (or less) who answers ALL his fanmail personally. I really appreciate him. His Letters to Jenny is a testament to what a great person he is (as is the Mode series).

But I didn't find it readable... or maybe this is just my not liking sad stories...

Last I read Jenny has recovered tremendously but will never be quite physically normal. He gives updates in each Xanth book...

[John Love IV · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the late 80's, 12 year old Jenny was hit by a car and was in a coma. Unable to communicate with her daughter, Jenny's mother wrote Piers Anthony, Jenny's favorite author, to write a letter to Jenny to try to get some kind of communication. What follows is a year or so of letters of encouragement to Jenny from Mr. Anthony.

It's a really interesting story and you can see Mr. Anthony's personality really coming out in the book. None of the responses, mostly by Jenny's mother, are included but they are referred to. There are some things in the book that I would not have written today but wouldn't have thought much about in 1990. The world is a very different place.

The book won't interest everyone and at times was a bit slow to get through, but I found it very interesting. Hopefully, some 20 years later, Jenny is doing well and is having a good life.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was a time back in the late 1970s, when Anthony first started his series on Xanth, a fantasy series with lots of fantastic creatures, lots of fun and lots of puns. Anthony is a master of that. I read everything he wrote including at least two other series--one about death, and another about a world split into halves--one magical, the other scientific. Fascinating stuff. At some point, I tired of the puns, I guess, or just moved on to other things. I read Anthony's autobiography: Bio of an Ogre, and decided he didn't sound like a very nice guy. I didn’t read any more of his books after that.

Flash forward a lifetime, and I was surprised to come across this book that shows a totally different and much more likeable person. In fact, I'm questioning now why I thought he wasn't so nice. To be fair, he called himself an ogre and I guess I believed him. At any rate, I enjoyed this book of letters he wrote to a young girl who had been hit by a drunk driver and in a coma for a while. Slowly, she recovered from the coma. Apparently, she was a lover of Xanth novels too and her mother wrote to Anthony mentioning that and so began the one-sided correspondence that lasts for quite some time. He ends the book after one year of letters, adding an afterword telling a bit about her progress. He really has to work to find new things to say, so ending when he does is a wise choice.

But we really come to know him more than her. She can't respond after all, and his letters are an attempt to lift her spirits and encourage her in working to get better. I'm sure they also encouraged her family. He writes her at least once a week, telling of what he sees on his runs through his land in Florida--the spiders and birds--one made a nest in the basket on his bicycle. He speaks of mundane things, but also his books and research and the character he created for her in one of the Xanth books--Jenny Elf, who also appears in a later book.

I think I may just have to pick up another of his books. I was amazed to see he's still at it. He's up to #47 in the Xanth series! He mentions several books, one based on the finding of a Native American burial mound in Florida. His daughter was at the dig and encouraged him to explore writing about it. He did extensive research on the tribe and came up with a fictionalized version of what their lives might have been like. If I can find a copy, I'll offer my take on it. Reviews on Goodreads are very mixed.

[Gail Sacharski · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started out as a fan of Anthony's Xanth series & read a number of them. I got interrupted, then fell behind, then stopped--intending to one day start again where I'd left off--but haven't read anything further of his until now. Letters to Jenny is a departure from his usual genre; these are the personal letters he wrote to a young girl at the request of her mother after she'd been run down by a drunk driver & was paralyzed & in a coma. She was a big fan of his books & her mom felt a communication from him would encourage her recovery--which it did. She was paralyzed with a brain stem injury that left her with extremely limited movement & no speech. The letters cover the first year of their correspondence--only his letters to her--their meeting & attendance together at a Sci-Fi Convention where she was celebrated after being made a character in one of his Xanth books. The letters are quite interesting & give a look into his daily & author life while encouraging her to recover. At times, I was a bit uncomfortable re: some of his subject matter as an adult male to a pre-teen girl, but since a parent had to read the letters to her, they seemed not to have a problem with it. He himself doesn't apologize for his opinions or subject matter, but speaks to her as he might to any friend despite her age. I did enjoy reading the book & wonder--since this was 30+ years ago--what happened to her afterwards & if their friendship continued. A second book of further correspondence was mentioned as a possibility, but I've not seen one published. I will have to do some further research.

[Helen Pugsley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I quit at page 99. It made the Ann Miner collection.

Like, I found the subject interesting, and I wanted a peak into the life of an author who got published by a house I'm like 🤩 but something about the way he talks to this little girl irritates me.
It could be the way he varies between grown-ass woman tone, and five year old tone. Could be the disrespect he didn't actually mean (I'm sure) when teasing her mother. Could be the "so anyway, here's a clipping from a troubling news article." He seems self righteous in a lot of places too.
Honestly, I skipped to the end. I wanted to make sure Jenny lived or I was going to put it down then and there. The fact he published this, then kept 80% of the royalties skeeves me out. "You've been living in a hospital but let me profit from that"? At all? In any form? And I mean, Anthony makes a compelling argument as to why "publishing a book is work" yes. Yes it is. It makes me afraid to reread the letters I write to my friends.

The only reason this book isn't meeting its end in the recycling bin is because I haven't found it to be harmful at large. (For example, I did throw out one that credited the Money experiment as true. The Money experiment was disproven roughly 10 years later.) It will go in the giveaway pile and circle to the next goon who has to watch the shop.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Barely 3 stars. Anthony is a good enough writer that his letters are interesting when talking about what's going on in and around his life and home. I understand the letters weren't written for publication and weren't written to/for me, but they were published, and I found the way he addressed Jenny to be annoying and repetitive. *A publisher visited today, but that wouldn't interest you. So, anyway..wait, what? It would? Don't you stick your tongue out at me! So...* Repeat. Again and again and again. Ugh. I meant to check my previous reviews of Anthony books, to see how often I DON'T mention his discomforting way of talking about (and now directly to) little girls, but I didn't. I can't imagine it's many. Anyway, the book is close enough to an autobiographical year-in-the-life of the author to be of interest to fans of his work, so if you are you it's worth a read. If you aren't, I certainly wouldn't bother.

[Christy J-Furem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, the feels. THIS BOOK. So I chose a Xanth book for part of my reading challenge this year. When I told my friend, she said I needed to read "Letters to Jenny" because it was an incredibly sweet and beautiful book. Well, she surprised me with a copy in the mail! Wanting to get a sense of Piers Anthony before reading one of his novels, I dove into this. It's a true story. Summing it up, a young girl is in a coma after being hit by a drunk driver. Her mom (the whole family are Xanth fans) writes to Piers Anthony asking him if he could write just one letter to her daughter, Jenny. Maybe it would pull her out of her coma.

Piers Anthony did write back...for over a year. And Jenny slowly came out of her coma. This book is both emotional and hilarious. You get a really cool look into the life of a unique man. And, through his letters, you learn of Jenny's progress. If this book doesn't squeeze your heart out, you might be a monster.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

So important. So touching.

[Jaleh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been wanting to read this book for years, but it's been hard to find. When I read Isle of View years as a teen and reached the Author's Note at the end, I was incredibly warmed by the fact that he cared enough about his fans that he'd personally write to one girl on a frequent basis to help her recover from a dreadful accident. (A pox on all drunk drivers!) I'd never realized just how injured she'd been though until I finally read this book.

Letters to Jenny is a (mostly) one sided conversation that reveals as much as any biography could about his personal views, writing, his connection to his fans, and more. It's also a touching message of hope that no matter how bad life is, good things can still happen. I was a fan of Piers Anthony already, but now I am even more so.

[Dan Chisholm · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure how to review this. Anthony never intended this to be a book. It just started out as a series of letters he wrote to a young girl hit by a drunk driver. Her mother sent him a letter requesting he write one to her daughter. Just one. At that time she was almost fully paralyzed. What the book turns into isn't a story of triumph about the girl, but a deeper look at the author. Not what I expected. I prefer his fiction, although I did learn a few things about him. Possibly more so than Bio of an Ogre.

[Charity · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book shows what separates science fiction writers from the rest. How very much they appreciate their fans. This story is about a young girl in a coma and how piers anthony helps through regular letters. Anthony promises Jenny that she will be a character in his book, and writes her letters to tell of his progress, while anxiously awaiting information from her mother on her progress.

[Alan Carr · Rating 4 out of 5]

To my high school self who found this tossed onto a table at a book outlet store, Letters to Jenny was a revelation. I'd read many of Anothy's books and gotten a sense for his personality through the author's notes that accompanied most of those books, but I didn't get a true feel for his real dedication to writing until I read this. I'm glad I did.

[Cyberpope · Rating 3 out of 5]

A purported set of real correspondance between Piers and a young(teen)girl who was paralyzed in a car accident(by a drunk driver) who found new hope & life in the Xanth series & ongoing correspondance with the author.

I say "purported" because I found some of the sequences rather stilted & artificial.

Still an interesting read; I'll grant him a genuine empathy for Jenny's plight, real or not.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Record of the correspondence between Piers Anthony and a fan named Jenny, who was hit by a drunk driver. Anthony's letters really seem to have done wonders to assist her recovery! It's an interesting book.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Love this book. I pull it out every so often to read it. So when Biography was the catagory for last month's book this came to mind.

It's a wonerful touching story about the conections between stranges that can bind us together through tradigty.

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very touching & poignant.

[Amanda Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

To date The most personal inside look at Piers Anthony's warm heart loved this book!

[Shawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Young adult 10-15

[Phoebe Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book, this is! I have a huge interest in mythical creatures and this book is so amazing. :)

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little boring. This book is a collection of one side of a years worth of correspondence between the author and a girl that was struck by a drunk driver while walking.

[Michael Nalbone · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt like a voyeur.

[Emily]

I don't exactly remember reading it, but I seem to remember the author's name along with this cover.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never "discovered" the Xanth books when I was younger. However, I read a synopsis of Letters to Jenny and was intrigued.

A mother writes to Piers Anthony regarding her daughter who is in the hospital due to a drunk driver hitting her. This was in the late 1980s. What follows is a year of letters to Jenny written by Mr. Anthony. I giggled at the puns. I cried over Jenny's struggles. I angered, wanting to pound the drunk driver and the jerkwads representing the laws of the state Jenny lived in (jerkwads who should have known better when they MADE those particular laws) literally let the creep off with what amounted to a slap on the wrist. Still . . .

It was a fun read for me. I enjoyed it. Despite the fact that my ribs are STILL sore from giggling, I enjoyed it. Perhaps one day soon I'll peek around a corner and catch a glimpse of Xanth.

Hopefully, Jenny is doing far better now. I wish her all the best.