For the Love of Letters: A 21st-Century Guide to the Art of Letter Writing

by Samara O'Shea

Book Overview

Have you ever wanted to write a thank-you note and suffered writer's block? Considered penning a passionate letter to your beloved, but had no idea where to begin? Needed to send a sympathy message, but couldn't find the right words? Fear not. Professional letter writer Samara O'Shea is here to spark your creativity and answer all your letter-writing questions in this charming guide.

For the Love of Letters is an anecdotal primer on letter...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061215309
• ISBN13: 9780061215308
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.4" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

A "guide" -- not a "how to"

For those looking to learn HOW to write a letter, this is not the book for you. This is more of an exploration of the art of letter-writing. Therefore, it is not so much "useful" as it is "enjoyable." I read this from front to back as if it was a novel, and I loved the examples of letters from famous personalities so much that I am interested in reading more books of letters. I did write a few letters after reading this books, but didn't send any of them -- and that's okay, according to the author of the book. I'd want to read more examples of written correspondance and find my own voice in that regard before I start taking up a pen and really writing someone a letter. Then again, perhaps practice will be just the thing.

An Infectious Love of Letters

Don't let this book's appearance fool you. For the Love of Letters may look like yet another anthology of famous letters, but it has much, much more to offer. Yes, you'll find letters from the likes of Keats, Poe, Beethoven, and many others, but these letters serve only to illuminate O'Shea's fresh, funny take on a smart, ambitious single woman's journey through the dating scene, job searches, and beyond. O'Shea begins by announcing her thesis--"Yes, There's Still a Need for Letters"--and then launches into a pithy discussion of how the Internet age has both reinvigorated and altered the art of letter writing. She worries that "what we gain in speed" through email and text messages, "we lose in language" and sets out to rectify this problem. Although we may enjoy the convenience of electronic correspondence, we must not forget that "English is curvaceous, complex, and beautiful," for, if we do so, we "squander our inheritance." The early chapters treat the author's forte, the love letter. The intro features a reference to Rostand's Cyrano, a role O'Shea plays with great panache here and on her website, letterlover.net, which provides letters for lovelorn. She covers the importance of timing, word choice, and even grammar in a love letter, providing examples from her own and others' correspondence. O'Shea's own very direct, honest, and emotional letters propel the early chapters of the book. The reader experiences the potentially embarrassing and starkly self-revelatory "crush confession," for which O'Shea advises "self-discipline" but can't resist taking her preferred "no-holds-barred" approach to expressing her feelings. And that's the great strength of this book: O'Shea's willingness to expose herself for the better or worse. We feel the unbridled sensuality of her erotic letters, the tumult of break-up letters, and the great sorrow of a condolence letter written to the grieving mother of deceased young friend. Of special note is O'Shea's embarrassing exchange with a former lover whose intentions are good--he writes to apologize--but whose memory isn't: he gets her name wrong! In the book's later chapters, O'Shea moves on to less personal kinds of correspondence, such as recommendation and cover letters. While I prefer the early chapters--and I suspect that O'Shea does, too--these sections have much to offer. She provides the best advice I've seen for writing letters of recommendation and offers examples from Collier's Cyclopedia of Commercial and Social Information to support her assertions. And another perspective on the dreaded "cover letter" is always welcome. Booksellers should display For the Love of Letters alongside Sex and the City and the so-called "chick-lit" novels (I've always found this label condescending; but, in lieu of a better term, I employ it here for communication purposes). I recommend this book very highly to fans of such works. However, although I have little interest in the chick-lit genre

keeping correspondence vital

With wisdom and humor, elegance and vitality, Samara O'Shea offers us a vibrant guide to communicating with the written word. Using candid examples from her own life, as well as correspondence from writers, artists, lovers, philanthropists and activists, she paints vital portraits of how letters inform and enrich our relationships, while offering practical steps to write virtually any kind of letter. For the Love of Letters offers page after page of insights into how we engage each other every day, from the mundane to the extraordinary events of our lives. O'Shea's humor and keen eye has inspired me to seek a similar freshness in my correspondence with others. If you've ever wanted (or needed) to write to someone but have been stuck--if you've wanted to say thank you in a way that wasn't hackneyed but fresh, if you've wanted to express sympathy but cannot find words, if your heart is aflutter but your tongue is tied--this book is a perfect guide.

smart and helpful

This is the kind of book that can surprise you by the depth and canniness of insight offered into a topic, in this case, letter writing. It offers spot-on insight into how letters work, why they work, why we react how we do to them, and the underlying architecture of etiquette that makes up the art. If all that sounds dry, it's really not dry in the book. The attention to the detail of writing good letters is evident in the advice for each main type of letter (including for instance how to write thoughtful and appropriate closings to letters) and how and when to send letters (email vs. mail, courier (calling Rosencrantz and Guildenstern), fax, etc) for maximum impact. The book finds a rare harmonious compromise between professional and personal, between academic and emotional, funny and serious, between style and substance. It's written in bite-sized digestible chapters which makes it easy to pick up and put down. I found it to be a very pleasurable read. I know I'll never write letters the same way again. I believe this would make a good gift for a recent college grad or just someone you happen to share a love of letters with. When you think of all the great letter-writing companions over time, they gained their appreciation for letter-writing at some point.... why not pass that passion on to someone, or kindle it in someone new?

This Book Will Have Whipping Out Your Pen and Paper ASAP

For the Love of Letters is a beautifully-written, gorgeously-designed tribute to Samara O'Shea's passion for writing (and receiving) letters. What sounds like a simple idea is actually much more complex as O'Shea takes us through history and shows how letters have sustained (and ended) relationships, from Edgar Allen Poe to James Joyce (and her tale of attempting to get the rights to reprint Joyce's erotic love letters via correspondence with his grandson Stephen Joyce is worth the price of the book alone). She doesn't spare us her own triumphs or low points, and bravely shares personal examples of letters of apology, letters of friendship, and letters for friends and clients. O'shea's done her homework, and has unearthed some really fabulous letters from her own files and her research that are sure to inspire you to pen your own epistles. She doesn't just tell you why she thinks letter-writing is important now more than ever (yes, even in the age of nonstop e-mail) but gives concrete examples of how letters can change the way someone thinks about you, reverse a bad impression, express an apology, share true love, seduce someone, and simply say all those things that are often hard or impossible to express in person. Whether you choose to write on elaborate stationery, cute greeting cards, or plain old white lined paper, it's your words that count, and O'Shea shows you how and, more importantly, why.