Overview

For over fifty years, Eudora Welty and William Maxwell, two of our most admired writers, penned letters to each other, sharing worries about work and family, literary opinions and scuttlebutt, moments of despair and hilarity. Living half a continent apart, they nourished and maintained their friendship through their correspondence. ""What There Is to Say We Have Said"" bears witness to Welty and Maxwell's editorial relationship--both in his capacity as ""New Yorker"" editor and in their collegial back-and-forth on their work. Here, Suzanne Marrs--Welty's biographer and friend--offers an unprecedented window into two intertwined lives. Through careful collection of more than 300 letters, she has created a record of a remarkable friendship and a lyrical homage to the forgotten art of letter writing. AUTHOR: Suzanne Marrs is the author of Eudora Welty: A Biography and One Writer's Imagination: The Fiction of Eudora Welty and is an recipient of the Phoenix Award for Distinguished Welty Scholarship.

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Reviews

How rewarding to become the third person present in the discoveries of life and literature between Eudora Welty and William Maxwell. I have always believed the only 'knowing' one can have of a fiction writers is through the fiction itself; but here, in the personal medium of to-and-fro wit and vitality, is to be had further experience of the writer Eudora Welty, whose stories, in particular, have opened my vision of human relations. <br>--Nadine Gordimer What a glorious collection! These letters make a map into the very heart of friendship and creativity. They are bursting with intelligence, tenderness, and insight. Every page is a privilege to read. <br>--Ann Patchett, author of The Patron Saint of Liars, Bel Canto, Run, among others Something truly special happened each time Eudora Welty and William Maxwell wrote a letter to the other. Suzanne Marrs has collected more than 300 of those letters and set them into a time and context. Anyone who relishes and celebrates the magic

A map into the very heart of friendship and creativity. Every page is a privilege to read. Ann Patchett An epistolary feast for literary fans [and] a confidence booster for aspiring writers everywhere. A Entertainment Weekly If friendship is an art, this volume is its masterpiece. Lee Smith A remarkable testimony to friendship, literature, and an abiding love of life...An invitation to draw up a chair and enjoy two good friends as interested in their rose gardens as their writing. Richmond Times-Dispatch A vivid picture of twentieth-century intellectual life and a record of a remarkable friendship... Glorious. Houston Chronicle Full of great tidbits about The New Yorker back in the day ... Charming. The New Yorker A raft of tender, day-to-day details ... Like eavesdroppers on a party line, we re privy to everything ... In today s world of texting, Twitter and Facebook, where our empathy for others is often reduced to a like button, coming across such a sustained account of a friendship is like shining a flashlight on the cave walls at Lascaux ... How fortunate we are that their kinship endured long enough for them to say everything there was to say. Atlanta Journal-Constitution Beautifully expressive ... [Marrs] has performed an important service here ... A valuable record of the authors writing process ... Maxwell and Welty, of course, loved to write, and writers and readers will be awed to learn of both the macro and the micro. Cleveland Plain Dealer [Maxwell and Welty s] love, a source of sustenance and strength between two great writers, is also a bright tonic for the readers of this volume, which affirms Welty s belief that to read someone s letters is in some way to admit him to our friendship. Christian Science Monitor These loving and revealing letters guide us back to the fiction of both authors. Wall Street Journal A valuable portrait of a unique and lasting friendship, and a celebration of a certain kind of joy that is rapidly disappearing the joy of writing and sending, receiving and reading personal letters. Tulsa World This collection of letters takes us into the world of Eudora and William. We get to see how their friendship deepened over time and became something special. San Francisco Book Review To read What There Is to Say We Have Said is to feel the noise and speed of the present era fall away, to sense the natural world reasserting itself. Time slows, and you arrive in a more pastoral moment. The Progressive Reader For 50 years, Welty and Maxwell communicated in full detail, with deep and genuine affection, serving up revelations about themselves that give these literary figures a greatly wonderful human dimension . . . This is one of the richest and most riveting collections of famous-people letters to emerge in some time. Booklist Inspiring . . . A vivid snapshot of 20th-century intellectual life and an informative glimpse of the author-editor relationship, as well a tender portrait of devoted friendship. Kirkus Reviews The correspondence of this volume [is] gracefully edited and annotated by Welty s biographer Marrs . . . Both correspondents were blessed with personality-plus, mirrored in these letters. Publishers Weekly How rewarding to become the third person present in the discoveries of life and literature between Eudora Welty and William Maxwell. I have always believed the only knowing one can have of a fiction writers is through the fiction itself; but here, in the personal medium of to-and-fro wit and vitality, is to be had further experience of the writer Eudora Welty, whose stories, in particular, have opened my vision of human relations. Nadine Gordimer Something truly special happened each time Eudora Welty and William Maxwell wrote a letter to the other. Suzanne Marrs has collected more than 300 of those letters and set them into a time and context. Anyone who relishes and celebrates the magic use of words, storytelling and friendship will treasure the end result forever. Jim Lehrer This book lets us in on the happy fact that two splendid writers, who did not sacrifice humanity to career, were warmly admitted to each other s lives. Its generosity of tone is such that the readers feels not a trespasser but a guest. Suzanne Marrs s editing is worthy of a delightful text. Richard Wilbur A complex improvisation carried on for years by two artists for whom nothing in the realm of literature or feeling was remote. Alec Wilkinson A literary revelation. Suzanne Marrs s editing of this rich collection is superlative. Roger Mudd, journalist and broadcaster

Author Information

SUZANNE MARRS is the author of Eudora Welty: A Biography and One Writer's Imagination: The Fiction of Eudora Welty and a recipient of the Phoenix Award for Distinguished Welty Scholarship. She is a professor of English at Millsaps College.

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