A Life in Letters: Ann Landers' Letters to Her Only Child

by Margo Howard

Shares a series of letters written over the course of forty years to the author's daughter, in a correspondence that reflects the social history of America between 1958 and 2001 as well as the columnist's insights on such topics as growing up, marriage, divorce, and aging. 200,000 first printing.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography

391 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked this up thinking it would be and a collection of Eppie's (Ann Landers) best advice given to her daughter while she grew up but I was pretty disappointed. It's a collection of letters written from Eppie to Margo but they're all so specific I don't see how this book would be enjoyable unless the reader knew Eppie or a member of her family personally. The bit that I got through was so boring and repetitive. A collection of Ann Landers columns would probably be much more interesting.

[Angie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring, boring, boring. What a waste of time.

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh - what tripe and trivel (which is a mix between drivel and terrible). I really like reading the advice columns and I enjoy letters so I thought that this book would be worth $1 at the Giant Book Sale. Hrumph. I was wrong. It was awful. I did keep reading because when I start something, I need to finish it. Also, at first, I figured she was just being dumb and slutty because she was in college but, really, that lasted throughout the book.

What made me pick this book up? See above.

What was the best part of the book? It reminded me a bit of my relationship with my mom - very close with the ups and downs.

What was the part I liked least? How do I count the ways? First, it was supposed to be an insight into Ann Landers life - gossipy, fun, family history, etc. She excised the names of the gossip so you didn't even know WHO the gossip was about. That was aggrevating and much less interesting. She also did that to her mom's love interests and anytime they spoke about problems in her life or her kids. It was so bland, blase and boring. I'm convinced that she wrote it for money, having no real talent of her own and living on her mom's name.

Rereadable: NEVER. I thought about burning it and then figured I couldn't do that to a book.

[Terri Tinkel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of letters written by Eppie Lederer aka Ann Landers was written to her only child, a daughter, Margo Howard, from 1958 through 2002. What an interesting review of her life and her opinions during that time. There were a lot of names dropped but only in "conversation" to her daughter. I always knew about Ann Landers....I read her advice column every day. I knew about her twin sister and the little spats they had from time to time. I found out a lot of things about politics and how very influencial Eppie Lederer was. She was always traveling and speaking and attending social events for charities. She was a confidant of many important people. She certainly had no problem telling people to "wake up and smell the coffee" which was one of her famous remarks. I think if she had lived in a different time, she might have given Oprah a run for her money.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magnificent!
Not being American, I had no idea who Ann Landers was before reading this book, so naturally a lot of the people mentioned in the letters and the political and social issues of the times meant nothing to me. I did however get a great deal out of the overall book and the relationship so close between mother and daughter.
This book makes you realise how short life is and how precious family members are.
Not only was I envious of the carefree style in which Ann and Margo communicated in their letters, but I also found a deep beauty in their enduring friendship throughout the years.
Theirs was a relationship to be envied and something all parents and children should aspire to.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Truth? I didn't finish it. Who really wants to read about the correspondence between a mother and daughter who had absolutely nothing similar to the life of anyone I can identify with or wish to.

[Karla · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a former reader of the column I liked this

Showed a different perspective

Comical

Entertaining

Enlightening

Shows a piece of history I hadn’t known
Worth the time

Not too deep

[Krista · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not exactly sure why I picked this one up. Perhaps because while growing up I read my small-town newspaper faithfully, including the Ann Landers column. And also because I love the idea of writing letters to stay in touch with those you love. Ann Landers, or Eppie Lederer, and her daughter wrote letters back and forth constantly. There were no big revelations about who Ann Landers really was or anything, just the letters that marked the passage of time and events in each of their lives.

[Cws]

070.92

[Marti · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoy books of letters.

[Eva-Marie Nevarez]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11549728