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Four Letter Word: New Love Letters (2007)

by Joshua Knelman (Editor), Rosalind Porter (Editor)

Other authors: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Contributor), Margaret Atwood (Contributor), Chris Bachelder (Contributor), Peter Behrens (Contributor), David Bezmozgis (Contributor)36 more, Joseph Boyden (Contributor), Tessa Brown (Contributor), Leonard Cohen (Contributor), Douglas Coupland (Contributor), Geoff Dyer (Contributor), Michel Faber (Contributor), Neil Gaiman (Contributor), Damon Galgut (Contributor), Panos Karnezis (Contributor), A. L. Kennedy (Contributor), Etgar Keret (Contributor), Hari Kunzru (Contributor), Nick Laird (Contributor), Phil LaMarche (Contributor), Ursula K. Le Guin (Contributor), Jonathan Lethem (Contributor), Sam Lipsyte (Contributor), Gautam Malkani (Contributor), Valerie Martin (Contributor), Hisham Mater (Contributor), Jan Morris (Contributor), Audrey Niffenegger (Contributor), Jeff Parker (Contributor), Rosalind Porter (Foreword), Francine Prose (Contributor), James Robertson (Contributor), Graham Roumieu (Contributor), Mandy Sayer (Contributor), Lionel Shriver (Contributor), Adam Thorpe (Contributor), Miriam Toews (Contributor), Carl-Johan Vallgren (Contributor), M. G. Vassanji (Contributor), Jeanette Winterson (Contributor), Matthew Zapruder (Contributor), Juli Zeh (Contributor)

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1362199,604 (3.2)5
"Is there any communication more potent than the love letter? Is there any charge greater than seeing those words on paper? The editors of this collection decided to ask some of the most important writers of our time to compose a fictional love letter - breathing new life into a forgotten custom, and affording words themselves the power of seduction that they richly deserve. The result is an iridescent picture of what love looks like in the twenty-first century: a collage of methods and moods. Each letter is radically different from the others, and all but one are published for the first time. Love: a vague word for an emotion so ethereal it's not always possible to demonstrate. But there still exists an assumption that experiences - and, by extension, the emotions that experiences evoke - are more resonant when you write them down. And it's that faith, that belief that writing down these naked, shocking, inadvisable and probably destructive feelings makes them worthwhile, that powers this collection, each piece of which is a testimony to the creative powers of our leading writers today, and every piece of which will move you."--Cover.… (more)
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Showing 2 of 2
Despite the contributor list reading like a Who's Who of my bookcase, this just wasn't that good. It wasn't bad--many of the stories were enjoyable--but the bulk ends up being forgettable. Several pieces feel like they were dashed off in a "why not?" response to the project, with minimal planning or editing. The "love letter" is interpreted several ways, but most end up with sarcastic and/or "twists"--love gone wrong, I Never Want To See You Again, letters from chimps to the primatologist who's been studying his clan. Taken as individual microfictions, these might be enjoyable, but when put together into a collection, there's not enough diversity in tone and/or subject matter to hold my interest. Did every author think they were being clever to write breakups and bitter irony as their love letters? The stand-outs were the ones who broke from that mold: a husband placing ad after ad, looking for his wife after Katrina. A performance artist stalking a woman he sees daily. Descriptions of photos that chronicled a relationship. Unfortunately, these pieces were the minority and back-loaded the book (arranged loosely by tone; the organizational plan is somewhat obtuse); many readers will likely never make it all the way to the few gems that are hidden here. ( )
  librarybrandy | Mar 29, 2013 |
Love Letters can be addressed to people, to places or to ideas, they can contain romance, happiness, bitterness or any other sentiment, they can also be funny, sad, moving or a everything at once, they can be sent with snail mail or with e-mail... This diverseness is perfectly represented in this book which collects invented Love letters from 41 authors, well-known ones as well as newcomers and located all over the world. All in all an inspiring, funny and moving book, and I enjoyed every page of it :) ( )
  pratchettfan | Apr 2, 2008 |
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» Add other authors

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Knelman, JoshuaEditorprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Porter, RosalindEditormain authorall editionsconfirmed
Adichie, Chimamanda NgoziContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Atwood, MargaretContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Bachelder, ChrisContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Behrens, PeterContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Bezmozgis, DavidContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Boyden, JosephContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Brown, TessaContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Cohen, LeonardContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Coupland, DouglasContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Dyer, GeoffContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Faber, MichelContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Gaiman, NeilContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Galgut, DamonContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Karnezis, PanosContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Kennedy, A. L.Contributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Keret, EtgarContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Kunzru, HariContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Laird, NickContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
LaMarche, PhilContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Le Guin, Ursula K.Contributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Lethem, JonathanContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Lipsyte, SamContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Malkani, GautamContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Martin, ValerieContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Mater, HishamContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Morris, JanContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Niffenegger, AudreyContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Parker, JeffContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Porter, RosalindForewordsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Prose, FrancineContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Robertson, JamesContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Roumieu, GrahamContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Sayer, MandyContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Shriver, LionelContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Thorpe, AdamContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Toews, MiriamContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Vallgren, Carl-JohanContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Vassanji, M. G.Contributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Winterson, JeanetteContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Zapruder, MatthewContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Zeh, JuliContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
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Dear E(arth), I am writing to tell you to give up.
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Four letter word : new love letters, edited by Rosalind Porter & Joshua Knelman is a collection of epistolary fiction with contributions by many authors including Margaret Atwood.
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"Is there any communication more potent than the love letter? Is there any charge greater than seeing those words on paper? The editors of this collection decided to ask some of the most important writers of our time to compose a fictional love letter - breathing new life into a forgotten custom, and affording words themselves the power of seduction that they richly deserve. The result is an iridescent picture of what love looks like in the twenty-first century: a collage of methods and moods. Each letter is radically different from the others, and all but one are published for the first time. Love: a vague word for an emotion so ethereal it's not always possible to demonstrate. But there still exists an assumption that experiences - and, by extension, the emotions that experiences evoke - are more resonant when you write them down. And it's that faith, that belief that writing down these naked, shocking, inadvisable and probably destructive feelings makes them worthwhile, that powers this collection, each piece of which is a testimony to the creative powers of our leading writers today, and every piece of which will move you."--Cover.

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Four Letter Word brings us work from 35 of today's best writers.
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