William Saroyan was one of the greatest representatives of American literature of the last century, an outstanding playwright as well as a novelist and short story writer. "Letters to Friends" is the last book published during his lifetime. The author worked on it by taking an annual list (for 1976) of famous deceased personalities from the entertainment industry, published in Variety magazine, and letting inspiration flow. This work became one of the author's late successes and nearly won the National Book Award for Literature. Through it, we encounter not only renowned writers, silver screen stars, and musicians, but also ordinary people who, thanks to the author's vibrant imagination, have emerged from the depths of his memory to the surface of storytelling. Saroyan's lively self-reflections prompt us to contemplate life and death.
