John O’Hara to Harold Ross: “I Have Decided to Reject Your Rejection”

From his January 1939 letter to Ross, just added to the brand-new and already much appreciated Today in Letters, a blog begun recently by Brian Sholis. Sholis, who just contributed a piece to PRINT and whose keen New Yorker event reporting I’ve called attention to before, calls his new enterprise “a ‘this day in history’ for literary correspondence and diaries.” The entries so far include a letter from Baudelaire to his mother from 1856; a 1928 Isak Dinesen dispatch; a 1937 letter from Elizabeth Bishop to Marianne Moore; and a 1661 Pepys diary entry. What a great idea! It’s going to be fun to see what he chooses. I’ve kept The Faber Book of Diaries and The Faber Book of Letters on my bedside table for years, since they’re so damn entertaining.

Waiting for a post you’ve been looking forward to on Emdashes? All in good time; intern applications now being accepted. Benefits: invitation to fix my defunct Complete New Yorker, all the popcorn you can eat, iTunes aplenty, and friendly smiles.