Dear Fahrenheit 451, by Annie Spence, is a collection of humorous letters addressed to books many of us have read (or have pretended to read). She’s a librarian. As she explains in a letter to us, her readers:
I’m your public librarian! I walked you over to the Murakami that time. I helped you get the DVD about exploring New Zealand and you came back and told me about how wonderful your trip was and we both got tears in our eyes. Remember when you said you paid my salary and mumbled “bitch” under your breath when I wouldn’t do your kid’s research paper for them? I’m that bitch!
It’s an entertaining set of letters, best enjoyed in whatever order makes sense to the person reading them. As Margaret H. Willison recommended via NPR:
Read straight through, the form can become familiar, and Spence’s jokes can lose a bit of their spark, but if you jump around as your fancy suits you, sampling everything from her notes to known classics like the titular Fahrenheit 451 to her odder letters (highlights include “The Fancy Bookshelf at a Party I Wasn’t Technically Invited To” and “Book That Jeffrey Eugenides May Have Owned And Written Personal Notes In”), it’s a delight. (And you get the sense that that’s a methodology of which Spence herself would wholeheartedly approve.)
I started with Spence’s letter to Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Spence isn’t intimately acquainted with the book, but she feels grateful to it for reasons I won’t spoil for you.
As anyone familiar with my blog probably knows by now, I’ve read To Kill a Mockingbird many times. I loved it when I was a kid, but I’ve grown wary of it. To explain my change of heart, I’ve attempted to write a Spence-like letter (which unfortunately, contains no Spence-like humor!):
Dear To Kill a Mockingbird:
You were a good childhood friend, a book that not only cemented my love of reading but encouraged me to practice law like Atticus Finch, a principled, generous, and sensible man. However, the Atticus of my childhood is not the Atticus we know today, thanks to the publication of Go Set a Watchman, a first draft that your publishers falsely advertised as your sequel.
Go Set a Watchman unmasked your unflattering beginning, stirring uncomfortable questions about your authenticity. How did you emerge from that “lumpy tale”? To what extent are you the product of New York City, where your publisher is based, rather than Monroeville, Alabama, your author’s hometown?
Undoubtedly, the controversial first draft, as well as other missteps your author’s representatives took, tarnished your legacy. But maybe it’s for the best. Maybe it’s time for a book that reflects the diverse experiences of a younger generation to take your esteemed place on library shelves and in school curricula.
Last weekend, I tried to give you away at a fundraiser, but no one took you home, so I left you in a box of donations, bound for a thrift store. I own two other copies of you, one in paper and the other “cold metal,” which my children will probably read someday. They read almost everything they get their hands on, including “boring” Supreme Court opinions, but for some reason, they haven’t read you yet. When they finally do, I wonder whether they’ll think you’re something special or just another book on the shelf. Most likely, they’ll gain some insight into me, and why I didn’t become a doctor as their grandmother had wanted, before moving onto the next book on their ever-growing “To-Be-Read” list. I hope that list never includes your “sequel.”
Sincerely,
AMB
I loved this book but the idea of reading it out of order makes me shudder! I’m pretty attached to reading both individual books and series in the intended order 🙂 I loved your letter to To Kill a Mockingbird and I’m glad you enjoyed her letters too.
I guess reading it out of order isn’t for everyone! 🙂
Sounds like a great book, and I loved your letter, too!
Thank you! It’s a fun read.
I’ve been wondering about this book. It sounds potentially delightful. I enjoyed your letter very much. When I was a kid I had a crush on Atticus and Gregory Peck certainly didn’t help! As good as the book is, you might be right, it is time for something else to take its place.
I’m glad you liked my letter. It felt good to write it. I have such complicated feelings about To Kill a Mockingbird (and I find it difficult to separate the book from the author’s representatives).
As for Spence’s book, it’s fun. I highly recommend reading the letters out of order.
This sounds great. And I love your letter! There’s some humor there, for sure.
Thank you! It felt cathartic to write a letter to To Kill a Mockingbird. I have such complicated feelings about that book.
Love your letter! The Spence book sounds intriguing.
Someone gave me a copy of the “sequel” not long after it was published and it’s been sitting on my shelf ever since – I don’t like to give away books I’ve never even opened but I don’t feel I can read it either. It may sit in limbo for another few years.
Thank you! I skimmed the “sequel,” but didn’t finish it. It’s terrible.
Love the letter to TKaMB. That’s awesome.
Thank you!
This is great! I do want to read Spence’s book!
It was a fun read! I hope you enjoy it.
I refuse to read that so-called sequel. I don’t want my experience with the “real” original sullied. I still enjoy the movie, too.
I gave in and skimmed parts of the “sequel,” but gave up on it. It’s truly terrible and never should’ve been published.