Customer Reviews

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

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I'm reading, enjoying, thinking of the many people I can give this book to as a gift to encourage us to keep writing our letters. The obvious recipients would be people who already do some letter-writing: my niece, sisters, grandma, my aunt in Oregon. It's young and lively, and the author has a breezy and charming voice.

Sadly, my plans were quickly dashed. The first chapter, "Letters as Gifts," is comprised of two parts, each with their own sections: "love letters" and "erotic letters." So you get all the way to page 17 of this book and you get the author's fabricated example of a letter to a lover: "I found it slightly (just slightly) more pleasurable when we switched places and you were on top, leaning back to play with my p**** while kneeling over me and letting me suck on your sweetness ..."

Huh. It's like being at a bus stop and having a muttering stranger dump unwanted revelations on you. If O'Shea had waited until we knew her, trusted her, saw how she likes to pull the shocking tricks of youth, it might have worked. Or perhaps as an appendix, with a disclaimer. But coming in the first 20 pages (so to speak), it was a nasty rather than naughty surprise. Cancel those book orders for mom, grandma, and aunt, please! Niece can still have one, but my Christian sister in Texas? I think not.

This is one to give to college students, and that's about it. Maybe that's good enough, but I can't help thinking of a local coffee shop run by a young man with a trust fund. It had madly painted walls and a cool music soundtrack, and surly teens sitting around on couches. When I went to the counter and asked for a cup of decaf, the young owner snarled, "We don't serve DECAF here." Right-o, I get it, I am not hip enough to be your customer. Coffee shop: out of business within the year, when the trust fund money ran out. Moral: don't insult your customer base if you want to actually reach people, unless you are positioning your work as For Young Hotties Only.

Chapter 4 is Letters of Gratitude, but you have to wait until page 83. With the optimism of youth, the author appears to think she'll be writing more erotic letters than grateful ones. Maybe in your 20's, dear, but the fantasies of hot-n-steamy through the U.S. Postal Service are, I believe, rather exaggerated.

At the very least, etiquette demands that if you're going to eat it in front of everybody, better make sure you bring enough for the whole class.

Otherwise, O'Shea has interesting things to say, did great research, and writes fresh and personal sentences with cohesion and grace. You could just staple that one section together and let Aunt Sue pry it open as a guilty secret when you let her look at your copy!

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?

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, I still thoroughly enjoyed Love of Letters. O'Shea's candor and charming persona distinguish the text, and her belief in the vitality of the personal letter in the Internet age is infectious.

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.

This book was more like a guily pleasure than a book that would inspire you to write a friendly note. I felt like I was reading someone's journal with letters sent and recieved between the author and one jilted lover after another. It was like watching a soap opera where there was no real warmth or depth of feeling between the charaters.
If it is a book that will inspire you to write a warm, friendly, letter you want, I would recommend The Art of the Handwritten Note by Margaret Shepherd.

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.

I bought this book about four months ago when I needed some guidance writing love letters. I'm a slow reader, and consider it on the 'fast' side if I can finish reading a Harry Potter book in about two weeks, but found this book so interesting that I finished reading it in about 5 days. I can see why everyone else on Amazon has recommended this book so highly. Samara O'Shea shares lots of valuable insights in this book, and I wish I came across her book much sooner. The way I see it, better late than never, and what I learned from her has enlightened me on how I can gracefully evolve into a better person. Since I purchased the book, I have applied her teachings to write many different letters, whether it be letters of love, thanks, apology, advocacy, or condolences - all in such a short time period, because she has inspired me to write more often. Her teachings have been valuable in my personal, social, and professional settings. I currently keep a copy next to my 'Business Writer's Handbook' at work, and it's been so valuable that I have purchased another copy to use at home. If you're looking for a book to spice up your life, or to communicate with elegance, you can't go wrong with this book - this applies to both genders, and you're reading a review from a guy.

If someone were to ask me which chapter moved me the most, I would have to say that it would be the sections on writing a letter of farewell, as well as a letter of apology. I say that because I came across the phrase, "I wish you well in all that you do" in an email to me, which I later came across in the book spelling it out that it was one of the ways to let someone know that it was over. Who knows, maybe she also happened to have a copy of this book and referred to it when she wrote her final note. Regardless... I sent a letter of apology back then, but I sent a much-improved version a month later which included valuable pointers that were presented in the book.

I thank Samara O'Shea from the bottom of my heart, for publishing this book and sharing some of her most intimate moments in her life. Her personal stories, as well as examples from historical celebrities (Carnegie, Poe, Joyce, et al) inspired me to continue the tradition of writing letters and gave me a true appreciation for classical literature. Look out for her new book in the Summer of '08, "Note to Self: On Keeping a Journal and Other Dangerous Pursuits."

For the Love of Letters is a delightful reminder of how important the written word is to relationships, both personal and professional. Not just a how to on writing letters, but an inspiring look at sharing important feelings like love, regret, and even anger without burning bridges. The author shares easily of her own experiences in a refreshingly honest way. I am inspired to make the effort to write letters and notes and have found that when I do, I am rewarded in turn. If I get stuck on the best way to phrase an idea or feeling, there is plenty of advice to draw from in this book. Definitely worth a look!

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.

This book was a fun and entertaining read... While it's "exotic" nature is sometimes blush worthy, it is without a doubt inspiring. I've written many letters already since finishing it :)

The Authour is well versed and seemilngly well educated.... A highly reccomended book for all the letter lovers!