One of those rare books one can return to over and over. I highlighted a lot of paragraphs. Two great writers and thinkers share their friendship and knowledge. This is a beautiful book and must-read for lovers of literature. ( )

The correspondents were friends from their teenage years in Greenville, Mississippi and began corresponding in the 1940s: Percy, an award-winning novelist, and Foote a historian of the US Civil War.

I read this one evening after my wife became angry with me. I had been rather stupid and deserved such. I awoke in the middle of the night and found myself drawn to this collection, which I believe I had purchased while we were in Oxford, MS earlier in the year. ( )

Lovely book. Longterm friendships between women get their due a hundred times over, so it's refreshing to be privy to a really warm and intimate male relationship. Percy and Foote met as high school students and hit it off instantly, and their friendship lasted until Percy's death -- Foote was with his family at his deathbed. What's nice is reading the letters, of course, but also seeing each man become more of who he was as he got older, married, remarried, had children, published books, did readings and lecture tours, had money, needed money, traveled, stayed home. There's something about being privy to two entire lives like that that goes beyond the voyeuristic into the realm of benevolent.

Really a nice book of correspondence, definitely recommended. ( )

NA