Memorable Days

Beginning with a letter of admiration for James Salter’s novel A Sport and a Pastime, the correspondence between Robert Phelps and James Salter developed into a long friendship spanning two decades. These letters give an intimate look at the professional and personal trials of each author and their mutually supportive relationship. James Salter had written the novels The Hunters and The Arm of Flesh, both of which draw upon his time in the Air Force during the Korean War. However, it was Salter’s film, Three, that compelled Robert Phelps to continue the conversation with another beautiful letter. What resulted are more than two hundred letters that provide insight into why Phelps’s fictional work remained largely unfinished after his debut novel, Heroes and Orators. The success of one man and the struggles of another are fully revealed by the men themselves in this collection of letters, giving a voice to a nearly forgotten author and his friendship with a man he admired.