First published 2009
Richard Selzer picks up his pen in 1988 to answer a letter from Peter Josyph, a New York artist he recently met. What begins as a simple reply grows into something neither man expects: a twenty-year exchange of thousands of handwritten letters that becomes the most important correspondence of Selzer's life. The former surgeon writes in his spontaneous, conversational style about his daily experiences, his work, and his thoughts, while Josyph responds from his world as an artist. Their friendship deepens through the written word alone. They reject phones as thieves of genuine connection and embrace the slower rhythm of the postal service. Through two decades of letters, these men discover that true friendship can flourish entirely through the ancient art of putting pen to paper, creating something that exists between literature and life.
Genres: friendship, biography-memoir, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: epistolary, found-family
Period: 1988, 20th-century
237 pages · Hardcover · Excelsior Editions