Charles Osgood (1) (1933–2024)

"Mildly Amusing Letters & etc." might have been a more appropriate title for this book. Some of them are truly laugh-out-loud amusing (Benjamin Franklin's 'Model of a Letter of Recommendation of a Person You Are Unacquainted With," Herbert Hoover's commiseration with a young correspondent about having to eat spinach at a White House lunch, Gustave Flaubert's brushoff of a persistent female, GBShaw's exchange of messages with Winston Churchill, Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson's veto of a cat bill, etc.), but most of them simply bring a smile to the lips...if that. (Even some of the 'funny people's [Groucho Marx, Fred Allen]' letters aren't all that hilarious.) Not a complete waste of time, to be sure, but, in the long run, perhaps more appropriate selections might have been made.… (altro)