"A valuable new collection provides a humane intellectual's perspective on the war." Quillette
"In Writing Home, Samuele F. S. Pardini has curated 149 letters written by Leslie A. Fiedler, a young Navy intelligence officer and future literary critic, to his wife, Margaret, between 1944 and 1945. These letters, often essay-like, delve into Fiedler's observations on war, literature and race, notably eschewing patriotic bravado For readers familiar with the hardships of soldiers and sailors on the frontlines, Fiedler's comparatively comfortable experience may feel frustrating. Yet it is this privilege that allowed him to write such intelligent, reflective, and thought-provoking letters." Times Literary Supplement
"Through these letters, readers are able to enter into an immediate and vivid perspective of an American G.I. and intelligence agent during wartime. They also demonstrate the evolution of an important writer's ideas, attitudes, and values, enriching our understanding of Fiedler and exploring a previously unknown developmental region of his life." Geoffrey Green, San Francisco State University
"Leslie Fiedler, author of the iconic Love and Death in the American Novel, was one of the most influential twentieth-century American literary critics, and his letters have great literary, biographical, cultural, and historical significance. The art of letter writing has been sadly diminished amidst our era of emailing and texting, and I marvel at the spontaneity and energy of Fiedler's prose, which was obviously unrevised." Jeffrey Berman, University at Albany
