Customer Reviews

Ann Landers in Her Own Words: Personal Letters to Her Daughter

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I loved this book. Given to me as a present, I had no idea what to expect and began reading it with a sense of uncertainty. But within a dozen pages I was completely held and involved. It is poignant, funny, wise and deeply engrossing, and full of practical advice on love, marriage, divorce, motherhood, and growing older. At times I got the guilty (but delicious) feeling that I was reading a good friend's private correspondence - it is that intimate and that honest. Some say that letter writing is a dead art, a form of communication that was killed off by the telephone and, more recently, the brutal abruptness of e-mail. But here it is resurrected in all its former glory. Full of good gossip and insights about famous names in show business, politics, the media and literature. there were moments when I laughed out loud and, occasionally, wanted to weep. I was honestly sad when I reached the end - so I started all over again. Happily, as one does in all good letters, I still found new things to surprise me. Margo Howard tells us that "letters were my mother's art form," and this book confirms that gloriously. Ms. Howard is no slouch at letter writing either, answering her mother's missives with equal wit, insights, and humanity. Those for whom this will be their first taste of the wit and wisdom of Ann Landers - or Margo Howard, who has followed in her mother's footsteps as an agony aunt - have a treat in store.

I was a little bored with the subject matter. I was expecting something else. I am putting the book aside and maybe I'll go back to it sometime. Regardless, I like the way her daughter writes.