epistolary

“We script our lives on reaction rather than action, meaning daily life is always in response to, or a reply to, a command or demand. The world uses us in that way...The world does this--holds us down.”― Randall Horton, Hook: A Memoir

Randall Horton and I have lived wildly different lives. His memoir, Hook, tells part of his story: as an undergrad at Howard University, as an addict, as a cocaine smuggler, as a prisoner, as a reader, as a poet, as an author, as an educator, as a mentor, as a friend. Yes, all of this is part of his story—and, like his story, the book itself is unique. It’s not

In Dear Committee Members, Schumacher puts a delightful twist on the epistolary novel. The story is told completely through LORs (Letters of Recommendation) written by a washed-up professor still teaching in “the wake of the deliberate gutting of the liberal arts, English in particular, in favor of the technological sciences…which the faceless gremlins…have condemned to indigence and ruin.”

Totally one-sided, Shumacher still paints a vivid picture of both the personal and professional life of Jason Fitger. With an ex-wife, ex-lover and trail of irritated colleagues in his wake, Fitger reveals

This is a delightful tale told in epistolary form. Set in 1946, its heroine is Juliet Ashton, a 33 year old London writer who like everyone else is recovering from the devastation of World War II. She corresponds regularly by mail with her close friends, Sidney and Sophie, whom she has known since childhood. Sidney is also her publisher. Juliet also receives a letter from a man on Guernsey – one of the Channel Islands that were occupied by the German army during the war. Her interest is piqued and she begins exchanging letters with other residents of the island until the time comes when Juliet