Just the Thing

This fullyupdated edition of James Schuyler's letters to three dozen intimates, publishedon the 100th anniversary of the writer's birth, offers unparalleled insightsinto the lives, friendships, and sensibilities that sprang from the influentialNew York School.

JamesSchuyler's effervescent takes on people, nature, art, writing, and love are onjoyous display in his letters to John Ashbery, Ron Padgett, Barbara Guest, AlexKatz, Joe Brainard, Kenneth Koch, and many more. They paint an indeliblepicture of a charmingly self-deprecating gentleman with an expansive intellectand a deliciously wicked tongue. "Jimmy wrote letters for the most civilized ofreasons," a friend of his once said, "to inform and to entertain."

And thatthey do, in inimitable style. Peppering his apercus with the occasional "toutde sweetie" and "pet noire," the PulitzerPrize-winning author ofThe Morning of thePoem. While histone ranges from the lightly graceful to the racily profane, each letter isexquisitely tuned to its recipient. Schuyler's voice changes over the years andthrough periods of elation and struggle, including stays with friends and inpsychiatric wards. Reading these letters, one becomes intimately connected tothe man and to his words, which have only grown more savory and valuable withtime.