Distant Intimacy: A Friendship in the Age of the Internet

Raphael, Frederic; Epstein, Joseph

ISBN 10: 0300186940 / ISBN 13: 9780300186949

Published by Yale University Press, 2013

Missing dust jacket; May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 1.66. Seller Inventory # G0300186940I4N01

Synopsis:

This delightful book of writer-to-writer correspondence joins a full shelf of volumes in the genre, yet it is perhaps the first set of such letters ever transacted via the Internet. Also unusual, at least for correspondents in the twenty-first century, is that Frederic Raphael and Joseph Epstein have never met, nor even spoken to each other. But what is most rare about this book is the authors' abundant talent for entertaining their readers, as much when the topic is grave as when it is droll. Raphael and Epstein agree to embark on a year-long correspondence, but other rules are few. As the weeks progress, their friendship grows, and each inspires the other. Almost any topic, large or small, is considered: they write of schooling, parents, wives, children, literary tastes, enmities, delights, and beliefs. They discuss their professional lives as writers, their skills or want of them, respective experiences with editors, producers, and actors, and, in priceless passages scattered throughout the letters, they assess such celebrated figures as Gore Vidal, Christopher Hitchens, Sontag/Leibowitz, Malcolm Gladwell, Harold Bloom, George Steiner, Harold Pinter, Isaiah Berlin, George Weidenfeld and Robert Gottlieb, among many others. Epstein and Raphael capture a year in their letters, but more, they invite us into an intimate world where literature, cinema, and art are keys to self-discovery and friendship.

About the Author: Frederic Raphael has written 22 novels, including 'The Glittering Prizes', made into a BBC television series, and several works of non-fiction. He is also an Oscar-winning screenwriter. He divides his time between London and Provence. Joseph Epstein is the author of more than 20 books, including Fred Astaire, published by Yale University Press, and most recently 'Gossip: The Untrivial Pursuit'. He lives in Chicago.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Distant Intimacy: A Friendship in the Age of...
Publisher: Yale University Press
Publication Date: 2013
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket