Letters

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Authors: John Barth

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BOOK: Letters
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Copyright © 1979 by John Barth
All rights reserved
This book or parts thereof must not be reproduced
in any form without permission.
Published simultaneously in Canada
by Longman Canada Limited, Toronto.

Designed by Helen Barrow

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Barth, John.
Letters.

I. Title.
PZ4.B284Le 1979 [PS3552.A75] 813’.5’4
ISBN 0-399-12425-X
79-13503

Printed in the United States of America

Third Impression

for Shelly

L E T T E R S

1: L

A:
Lady Amherst to the Author.
Inviting him to accept an honorary Doctorate of Letters from Marshyhope State University. An account of the history of that institution.

B:
Todd Andrews to his father.
The death and funeral of Harrison Mack, Jr.

C:
Jacob Horner to Jacob Horner.
His life since
The End of the Road.
The remarkable reappearance, at the Remobilization Farm, of Joseph Morgan, with an ultimatum.

D:
A. B. Cook IV to his unborn child.
The origins of the Castines, Cookes, and Burlingames.

E:
Jerome Bray to Todd Andrews.
Requesting counsel in an action of plagiarism against the Author. His bibliography and biography. Enclosures to the Author, to George III, and to Todd Andrews.

F:
Ambrose Mensch to Yours Truly (and Lady Amherst).
A de-cla-ra-ti-on and an ex-hor-ta-ti-on. With several postscripts.

G:
The Author to the Reader.
LETTERS
is “now” begun.

I:
The Author to Whom It May Concern.
Three concentric dreams of waking.

N:
The Author to Lady Amherst.
Politely declining her invitation.

E:
The Author to Lady Amherst.
A counterinvitation.

2: E

N:
Lady Amherst to the Author.
Rejecting his counterinvitation.

O:
Lady Amherst to the Author.
Reconsidering.

L:
Lady Amherst to the Author.
Confessing her latest love affair and the excesses of its current stage.

D:
Lady Amherst to the Author.
Trouble at Marshyhope. Her early relations with several celebrated novelists. Her affair with André Castine, and its issue. Her marriage to Lord Jeffrey Amherst. Her widowing and reduction to academic life.

Y:
Todd Andrews to the Author.
Acknowledging the latter’s invitation and reviewing his life since their last communication. The Tragic View of things, including the Tragic View.

T:
Jacob Horner to Jacob Horner.
Progress and Advice.

R:
A. B. Cook IV to his unborn child.
The history of A. B. Cooke III: Pontiac’s conspiracy.

O:
A. B. Cook IV to his unborn child.
The history of H. C. Burlingame IV: the first American Revolution.

R:
Jerome Bray to Todd Andrews.
Reviewing Year O and anticipating LILYVAC II’s first trial printout of the Revolutionary Novel
NOTES.
With an enclosure to the Author.

W:
Ambrose Mensch to Yours Truly and Lady Amherst.
THE AMATEUR, or, A Cure for Cancer,
by Arthur Morton King.

S:
The Author to Todd Andrews.
Soliciting the latter’s cooperation as a character in a new work of fiction.

H:
The Author to Todd Andrews.
Accepting the latter’s demurrer.

I:
The Author to Lady Amherst.
Accepting her rejection of his counterinvitation.

M:
The Author to Lady Amherst.
Crossed in the mails. Gratefully accepting her change of mind.

3: T

T:
Lady Amherst to the Author.
The Third Stage of her affair with Ambrose Mensch. Her latter-day relations with André Castine.

I:
Lady Amherst to the Author.
More trouble at Marshyhope. Her relations with the late Harrison Mack, Jr., or “George III.”

M:
Lady Amherst to the Author.
Three miracles in three days. Ambrose’s adventures with the film company. The Fourth Stage of their affair begins.

E:
Lady Amherst to the Author.
Her introduction to the Menschhaus.

E:
Lady Amherst to the Author.
Not pregnant. The “prenatal” letters of A. B. Cook IV.

S:
Todd Andrews to his father.
His life’s recycling. Jane Mack’s visit and confession. 10 R.

I:
Jacob Horner to the Author.
Declining to rewalk to the end of the road.

L:
A. B. Cook IV to his unborn child.
His own history to the present writing: the French Revolution, Joel Barlow in Algiers, “Consuelo del Consulado,” Burr’s Conspiracy, Tecumseh’s Indian confederacy. The Pattern.

S:
Jerome Bray to Drew Mack.
LILYVAC’s LEAFY ANAGRAM.

H:
Ambrose Mensch to Yours Truly.
A reflection upon History. His defeat by the Director at Ocean City: an Unwritable Sequence. Magda celebrates a certain anniversary.

S:
The Author to Jacob Horner.
The story of a story called
What I Did Until the Doctor Came.

4: T

P:
Lady Amherst to the Author.
The Fourth Stage of her affair. She calls on A. B. Cook VI in Chautaugua. Ambrose’s Perseus project, and a proposition.

I:
Lady Amherst to the Author.
The Fourth Stage continues. Filmmaking at Niagara Falls and Old Fort Erie. Dismaying encounters at the Remobilization Farm.

S:
Lady Amherst to the Author.
Her conversation with “Monsieur Casteene.” A fiasco on Chautaugua Lake. A Visit to Lily Dale, N.Y., Spiritualist Capital of America.

T:
Lady Amherst to the Author.
The Marshyhope Commencement debacle, and its consequences.

O:
Lady Amherst to the Author.
The Fourth Stage concludes; the Fifth begins. Magda’s confession. The
Gadfly
fiasco reenacted: an Unfilmable Sequence.

E:
Todd Andrews to his father.
Further evidence that his life is recycling: 11 R.

T:
Jacob Horner to Jacob Horner.
Der Wiedertraum
under way.

L:
A. B. Cook VI to the Author.
Eagerly accepting the Author’s invitation. The Cook/Burlingame lineage between Andrew Cook IV and himself. The Welland Canal Plot.

E:
Jerome Bray to his parents and foster parents.
His betrayal by Merope Bernstein. His revenge and despair.

I:
Ambrose Mensch to Yours Truly.
Anniversary of the bees’ descent. Encounters with Jacob Horner and Marsha Blank. He identifies his condition with Perseus’s, and despairs.

E:
The Author to A. B. Cook VI.
A request for information and an invitation to participate in the work in progress.

5: E

L:
Lady Amherst to the Author.
Despair at Ambrose’s infidelity. Their Fifth Stage.

A:
Lady Amherst to the Author.
The Dorchester County Tercentenary and Mating-Season Sequences. Ambrose’s concussion, and its cause.

R:
Lady Amherst to the Author.
The Battle of Niagara. Surgery for Magda. Lady Amherst desperate.

Y:
Lady Amherst to the Author.
Odd business in Buffalo.

V:
Todd Andrews to his father.
His Second Dark Night of the Soul. 13 R.

I:
Jacob Horner to Jacob Horner.
His discovery that he is in love.

S:
A. B. Cook VI to his son.
The first of A. B. Cook IV’s “posthumous” letters summarized: the deaths of Joel Barlow and Tecumseh.

&:
A. B. Cook VI to his son.
A. B. Cook IV’s second posthumous letter: Washington burned, Baltimore threatened.

A:
Jerome Bray to the Author.
The
Gadfly
Illuminations.

C:
Ambrose Mensch to Yours Truly.
A lull on Bloodsworth Island.

L:
The Author to Jerome Bray.
Admonition and invitation.

F:
The Author to Jacob Horner.
Accepting the latter’s declining of his invitation of May 11 and thanking him for several contributions to the current project.

A:
The Author to A. B. Cook VI.
Expressing dismay at the latter’s presumption and withdrawing the invitation of June
15.

C:
The Author to Jerome Bray.
Some afterthoughts on numbers, letters, and the myth of Bellerophon and the Chimera.

6: R

N:
Lady Amherst to the Author.
The Sixth Stage of her affair. The Scajaquada Scuffle.

O:
Lady Amherst to the Author.
The Sixth Stage continues. The Fort Erie Magazine Explosion and Second Conception scenes.

V:
Lady Amherst to the Author.
Distress at Mensch’s Castle.

E:
Todd Andrews to his father.
13 R, a visit from Polly Lake, a call from Jeannine.

N:
Todd Andrews to the Author.
A series of 21’s and an intention to bequeath.

O:
Jacob Horner to Jacob Horner.
His rescue of Marsha Blank from Comalot Farm, and present anxiety in her behalf.

U:
Jacob Horner to Jacob Horner.
His last Progress and Advice session before “Saint Joseph’s” deadline.

D:
A. B. Cook VI to his son.
The third posthumous letter of A. B. Cook IV: the Battle of New Orleans and Napoleon’s surrender to
Bellerophon.

R:
A. B. Cook VI to his son.
The fourth posthumous letter of A. B. Cook IV: plans for the rescue of Napoleon from St. Helena.

E:
A. B. Cook VI to his son.
The fifth and final posthumous letter of A. B. Cook IV: Napoleon “rescued.”

C:
Jerome Bray to Bea Golden.
Inviting her to star in the first epic of Numerature.

H:
Jerome Bray to his parents.
An ultimatum.

H:
Ambrose Mensch to Yours Truly.
His final such letter: the plan of his abandoned Perseus story, conformed to the plan of his own life.

I:
Ambrose Mensch to the Author.
A left-handed letter following up a telephone call. Alphabetical instructions from one writer to another.

T:
The Author to Ambrose Mensch.
Soliciting his advice and assistance in the
LETTERS
project.

U:
The Author to Ambrose Mensch.
Replying to the latter’s telephone call of the previous night.

7: S

E:
Lady Amherst to the Author.
Explaining her fortnight’s silence. The Burning of Washington. Two more deaths and a memorial service. Preparations for the Bombardment of Fort McHenry and for her wedding.

L:
Lady Amherst to the Author.
Her wedding day and night. The Dawn’s Early Light sequence and the Baratarian disasters. Her vision of the Seventh Stage.

F:
Todd Andrews to his father.
His last cruise on the skipjack
Osborn Jones.

I:
Draft codicil to the last will and testament of Todd Andrews.

S:
Jacob Horner to Todd Andrews.
The end of
Der Wiedertraum.

A:
A. B. Cook VI to his son.
A summons to Fort McHenry and to the Second 7-Year Plan.

M:
A. B. Cook VI to his son and/or prospective grandchild.
With a postscript to the Author from H. C. Burlingame VII. Each explaining A. B. Cook VI’s absence from the yacht
Baratarian.

O:
Jerome Bray to his grandmother.
His business finished, he prepares to ascend to her.

M:
Ambrose Mensch to Arthur Morton King (and Lady Amherst).
Proposing marriage to Lady Amherst. She accepts.

A:
Ambrose Mensch to Whom It May Concern (in particular the
Author).
Water message #2 received. His reply. A postscript to the Author.

A:
The Author to Germaine Pitt and Ambrose Mensch.
An alphabetical wedding toast.

L:
The Author to the Reader.
LETTERS
is “now” ended. Envoi.

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