'The theme of "Charlotte's Web" is that a pig shall be saved'
August 5, 2013 9:39 PM Subscribe
"I haven't told why I wrote the book, but I haven't told you why I sneeze, either. A book is a sneeze." A lovely little letter from E. B. White.
This is fantastic.
posted by scblackman at 10:10 PM on August 5, 2013
posted by scblackman at 10:10 PM on August 5, 2013
He can sure write.
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:11 PM on August 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:11 PM on August 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
Please please everyone go out and buy Dear Genius, the letters of Ursula Nordstrom, because they are the absolutely most brilliant thing and fill me with lightning and sparkles and love for books.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 10:21 PM on August 5, 2013 [8 favorites]
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 10:21 PM on August 5, 2013 [8 favorites]
This is awesome.
I loved that book as a kid, but in the back of my mind, I always thought that the author was a woman.
So I was surprised when I saw the photograph.
But I smiled all through the letter. Thanks for posting this!
posted by meringue at 10:23 PM on August 5, 2013 [4 favorites]
I loved that book as a kid, but in the back of my mind, I always thought that the author was a woman.
So I was surprised when I saw the photograph.
But I smiled all through the letter. Thanks for posting this!
posted by meringue at 10:23 PM on August 5, 2013 [4 favorites]
Someday I'll be able to write like that. And the next day I will die because it'll take me another ninety years. He was brilliant.
Ever see Anne Rice's Blood Canticle rant on Amazon? Read that and compare. Because both are examples of what you get when you strip away the editors and all the publishers' staff. Some authors can conceive stories or develop characters, sure, but gosh, some authors can write.
posted by cribcage at 10:34 PM on August 5, 2013
Ever see Anne Rice's Blood Canticle rant on Amazon? Read that and compare. Because both are examples of what you get when you strip away the editors and all the publishers' staff. Some authors can conceive stories or develop characters, sure, but gosh, some authors can write.
posted by cribcage at 10:34 PM on August 5, 2013
Shaun here, I run Letters of Note. I just wanted to concur with PhoBWanKenobi and say that, of the many books I've read on the subject of correspondence, Dear Genius is easily one of the most rewarding. This supportive letter of hers to Maurice Sendak is a perfect example of its contents. (Is it bad form to link to one's own website within a comment thread? I hope not. Sorry if so.)
posted by Usher at 1:38 AM on August 6, 2013 [22 favorites]
posted by Usher at 1:38 AM on August 6, 2013 [22 favorites]
It used to be clear to me, slopping a pig, that as far as the pig was concerned I could not be counted on
I love this! Thanks for posting it.
posted by billiebee at 2:04 AM on August 6, 2013
I love this! Thanks for posting it.
posted by billiebee at 2:04 AM on August 6, 2013
Billiebee beat me to the best quote for me. Marvellous letter, thank you.
posted by arcticseal at 2:50 AM on August 6, 2013
posted by arcticseal at 2:50 AM on August 6, 2013
"...i was suprised and pleased to find that Charlotte's daughters were emerging from the air holes in the cover of the box. They strung tiny lines from my comb to my brush, from my brush to my mirror..."
i loved the book and all but man, that image has me really wanting to reach for a can of bug death spray.
posted by fuzzypantalones at 4:48 AM on August 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
i loved the book and all but man, that image has me really wanting to reach for a can of bug death spray.
posted by fuzzypantalones at 4:48 AM on August 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
Misread that as "a pig shall be shaved."
It's times like this I kinda wish I wrote fanfic. :|
posted by GoingToShopping at 5:36 AM on August 6, 2013
It's times like this I kinda wish I wrote fanfic. :|
posted by GoingToShopping at 5:36 AM on August 6, 2013
Shaun/Usher, I just want to say that I love your site! Correspondence can be so fascinating, and the curation on Letters of Note is just excellent. Thanks for your work!
(Also, pertinent self-linking in comments is fine, just not on front page posts.)
(Also, totally agree about Dear Genius -- Ursula Nordstrom was an amazing editor and muse, acerbic, compassionate, and very funny. We all owe her a tremendous debt of gratitude for the long list of fantastic childrens' literature she midwived into the world.)
posted by slappy_pinchbottom at 5:52 AM on August 6, 2013
(Also, pertinent self-linking in comments is fine, just not on front page posts.)
(Also, totally agree about Dear Genius -- Ursula Nordstrom was an amazing editor and muse, acerbic, compassionate, and very funny. We all owe her a tremendous debt of gratitude for the long list of fantastic childrens' literature she midwived into the world.)
posted by slappy_pinchbottom at 5:52 AM on August 6, 2013
Agreed, Dear Genius is awesome.
My current lunch hour read is a book of E. B. White's letters. Here's one to Alexander Woollcott. (He and White both wrote for the New Yorker, along with James Thurber.)
Dear Friend and Reader,
Thanks for the ad over the wireless. I have a spaniel that defrocked a nun last week. He took hold of the cord. I had hold of the leash. It was like elephants holding tails.
Imagine me undressing a nun, even second hand.
Yrs,
E. B. White
posted by fussbudget at 6:50 AM on August 6, 2013 [8 favorites]
My current lunch hour read is a book of E. B. White's letters. Here's one to Alexander Woollcott. (He and White both wrote for the New Yorker, along with James Thurber.)
Dear Friend and Reader,
Thanks for the ad over the wireless. I have a spaniel that defrocked a nun last week. He took hold of the cord. I had hold of the leash. It was like elephants holding tails.
Imagine me undressing a nun, even second hand.
Yrs,
E. B. White
posted by fussbudget at 6:50 AM on August 6, 2013 [8 favorites]
I'm 99% sure that E. B. White is to blame for my vegetarianism and general attitude towards animals (including spiders, whom I do not have any particular affection for, but towards whom I display immense respect).
posted by Mooseli at 11:00 AM on August 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Mooseli at 11:00 AM on August 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
Spiders excel at treachery and should never be trusted.
posted by Zack_Replica at 11:56 AM on August 6, 2013
posted by Zack_Replica at 11:56 AM on August 6, 2013
Mooseli, I, too, consider Charlotte's Web the thing that gave five-year-old me a lurching shove onto the track that led to my vegetarianism ten years later. Considered altogether, it's really a pretty radical little book.
posted by jocelmeow at 2:32 PM on August 6, 2013
posted by jocelmeow at 2:32 PM on August 6, 2013
If you enjoy this letter you should definitely read White's book of essays, One Man's Meat, which chronicles his first years living on his farm in Maine.
posted by chaiminda at 4:45 AM on August 7, 2013
posted by chaiminda at 4:45 AM on August 7, 2013
Some weeks later I was suprised and pleased to find that Charlotte's daughters were emerging from the air holes in the cover of the box.
I think the takeaway from this story is that had E.B. White been born in Australia, we never would have gotten 'The Elements of Style'.
posted by curious.jp at 5:42 AM on August 7, 2013
I think the takeaway from this story is that had E.B. White been born in Australia, we never would have gotten 'The Elements of Style'.
posted by curious.jp at 5:42 AM on August 7, 2013
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