Saturday, July 15, 2006

Letter to Roger Rosenblatt

I recently wrote a letter to PBS NewsHour columnist Roger Rosenblatt. I wanted to tell him how much I enjoyed his novel Lapham Rising. Here is the text of the letter:

Dear Mr. Rosenblatt, I recently read your book Lapham Rising. I want you to know I found it very pleasant. I especially enjoyed how Mr. Lapham’s assistant’s name is an anagram for “A random tele ink”. My only concern is that I enjoyed your book to an extent slightly beyond that which is justified by the purchase price. In order to resolve this, I have enclosed $5. You may enjoy this without sharing it with your publisher. If you would rather not receive cash, perhaps for tax purposes, feel free to drop by my home in Brooklyn any time and I will feed you a hamburger and a coke. In that case, please don’t forget to bring the $5 with you. Sincerely, Juan Molinari

This is what he wrote me back: