Letter to a Stranger: Essays to the Ones Who Haunt Us

by Colleen Kinder (Editor), Leslie Jamison (Foreword by)

Overview

“Beautiful. The human condition is on full display in these glimpses of our essential connectedness. Perfect for our times.” 
—Dani Shapiro, author of Inheritance

Sixty-five extraordinary writers grapple with this mystery: How can an ephemeral encounter with a stranger leave such an eternal mark?

When Colleen Kinder put out a call for authors to write a letter to a stranger about an unforgettable encounter, she opened  the floodgates. The responses—intimate and addictive, all written in the second person—began pouring in. These short, insightful essays by a  remarkable cast of writers, including Elizabeth Kolbert, Pico Iyer, Lauren Groff, Gregory Pardlo, Faith Adiele, Maggie Shipstead, Lia Purpura, Kiki Petrosino, and Jamil Jan Kochai, are organized around such themes as Gratitude, Wonder, and Farewell and guide us both across the globe and through the mysteries of human connection. Addressed to a first responder after a storm, a gambler encountered on jury duty, a waiter in  Istanbul, a taxi driver in Paris, a roomful of travelers watching reality TV in La Paz, and dozens of others, the pieces are replete with observations about how to live and what we seek, and how a stranger’s loaded glance, shared smile, or question posed can alter the course of our lives. 

Moving and unforgettable, Letter to a Stranger is an irresistible read for the literary traveler and the perfect gift for anyone who is haunted by a person they met once and will remember forever.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781643751245
Publisher:	Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
Publication date:	03/22/2022
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	263,051
Product dimensions:	8.20(w) x 1.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Colleen Kinder is an essayist and editor whose work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New Republic, National Geographic Traveler, Salon.com, and The Best American Travel Writing. She has taught writing at Yale University, the Chautauqua Institution, and Semester at Sea. A Fulbright Scholar, Kinder received her MFA at the University of Iowa and is the author of Delaying the Real World and the cofounder of the online magazine Off Assignment (OffAssignment.com), where some of the pieces in this anthology originated. Her website is colleenkinder.com.

Table of Contents

Foreword Leslie Jamison xv

Introduction Colleen Kinder 1

Symmetry

To the Traveling Magician, Granada, Nicaragua Leslie Jamison 11

To the Woman Who Found Me Crying Outside the Senate, Washington, DC Rachel Swearingen 14

To the Father Paused Under the Tree, Grand Canyon, Arizona Anjali Sachdeva 18

To My Lost Trishaw Driver, Mandalay, Myanmar Pico Iyer 21

To the Child on the Plane, The Cascades, Oregon Lia Purpura 25

To My Arctic Vardøger, Pyramiden, Norway Alexander Lumans 28

To the Girl in the Tattoo Parlor, Dallas, Texas Michelle Tea 33

To the Face in the Subway Glass, Berlin, Germany Annie Schweikert 37

Mystery

To the Loner at High Altitude, Tres Cruces, Peru Elizabeth Kolbert 41

To the First Responder After the Storm, New Orleans, Louisiana David Parker Jr. 44

To the Boy Who Climbed onto My Hammock, Mazunte, Mexico Emily Matchar 49

To the Man I Believe Was Good, Palermo, Italy Lauren Groff 52

To the Man Who Saw Cobras Dance, Auroville, India Meera Subramanian 55

To the Woman Who Wanted to Go Shoe Shopping, Xi'an, China Vanessa Hua 59

To the Chatty Man Who Pierced the Quiet, Canaan, New Hampshire Peter Orner 63

To the Boo Radley of My Childhood, Sydney, Australia Madelaine Lucas 66

To the Grandfather I Hardly Knew, Sicily Italy Peter Turchi 71

To My Grandmother, c/o the Mush Hole, Tit Kanatáhere Amber Meadow Adams 75

Chemistry

To the Girl at the Riverbend, Baker River, New Hampshire Howard Axelrod 81

To the Stranger in My Family, Bethesda, Maryland Kiki Petrosino 85

To the Man Who Spoke with His Hands, South China Sea Ying Reinhardt 89

To the Taxi Driver Who Looped Back to Get Me, Paris, France Irina Reyn 94

To the Woman Whose Shoulder I Slept On, New York City to Boston Naomi Gordon-Loehl 98

To the Source Who Kept Changing Costume, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia Keija Parssinen 103

To the Father of the Baby with the Brain Freeze, Tucson, Arizona Margo Steines 109

To the Inescapable Teacher, Parakou, Benin Erica Cavanagh 113

To the Gambler I Met in Jury Duty, Chinatown, New York City Jenessa Abrams 118

To the Stranger from the Silver Hour, Rocamadour, France Colleen Kinder 123

Gratitude

To the Pharmacist on Futong West Street, Beijing, China Monet Patrice Thomas 133

To the Woman Who Spared Me an Orange, Oaxaca, Mexico Sarah Menkedick 136

To the Driver I Followed, Interstate 40, North Carolina Matthew Olzmann 139

To the Man Who Sold Me Shoddy Film, Harar, Ethiopia Meron Hadero 142

To Sandals Man, An airport terminal, Central China Craig Mod 145

To the Driver Who Was Not Godfrey, Kampala, Uganda Raksha Vasudevan 149

To the Waiter Who Left Me a Tip, Beyoglu District, Istanbul Turkey Michael Agresta 155

To the Doctor I Never Thanked, Tarrytown, New York Aria Beth Sloss 160

To the Woman Who Walked Beside Me, Yonkers, New York Sarah Perry 165

To the Drunk Mr. Flunchy, Avignon, France Gregory Pardlo 169

Wonder

To the Seller of Breadcrumbs, Buenos Aires, Argentina Cutter Wood 177

To the Woman on the Park Bench, Central Park, New York City Aviya KusÚer 181

To My Steadfast Danish Soldier, Copenhagen, Denmark Julie Lunde 185

To the Young German Horsewoman, Chosen to Help with Réttir, Óbyggdasetur Íslands, Iceland Pam Houston 189

To the Lady of the Platform, New York, New York Jacquelyn Mitchard 193

To the Italian Whose Name I Lost, Florence, Italy Julia Glass 197

To the Traveler Who Hid Cash in Her Underwear, Rwanda-Tanzania border Ted Conover 202

To the Lady of the Blackberries, Happy Camp, California Kelly Ramsey 205

Remorse

To the Logari Who Asked About the Sun, Logar Province, Afghanistan Jamil Jan Kochai 213

To the Roomful of Travelers Watching Reality TV, La Paz, Bolivia Anna Vodicka 217

To Mario, 26-Year-Old Bestie to My 78-Year-Old Mom, Sunnyside, Washington Faith Adiele 222

To the Son of the Victim, Santa Rosa, California Sophie Haigney 227

To the Woman with the Restraining Order, Hoodsport, Washington Meg Charlton 232

To the Woman We Met Before the Flood, Pai, Thailand Maggie Shipstead 237

To the Servant Girl Who Shared My Toys, Karachi, Pakistan Sheba Karim 242

To the Keeper of the Fawn, Chisago City, Minnesota Sally Franson 245

To the Woman Harboring a Gringo, San Isidro del General, Costa Rica Jesse Donaldson 249

Farewell

To the Poet Who Disappeared, Okinawa, Japan Akemi JoÚson 255

To the Woman in the Earrings, Provincetown, Massachusetts T Kira Madden 258

To the Protagonist of a Too-Short Story, US Route If, New York Carlynn Houghton 262

To the Follower of Cheikh Bamba, Dakar, Senegal Emmanuel Iduma 265

To the Father of the Lost Chilean Son, Chilean base, Antarctica Carin Clevidence 269

To the Man Who Had a Wife, Coshocton, Ohio Rachel Yoder 274

To the One Who Was Supposed to Get Away, Ko Pha Kgan, Thailand Lavinia Spalding 278

To the Stranger My Doctor Heard All About, Portland, Oregon Robin Romm 281

To the Deliveryman Who Gave Me a Lift, Caracas, Venezuela Lucas Mann 285

To the Girl I Didn't Love on the Last Bus Home, Guanacaste, Costa Rica Jeremy B. Jones 288

Acknowledgments 293

About the Contributors 297

Editorial Reviews

★ 08/02/2021

The power of brief encounters is illuminated in this moving collection from essayist and editor Kinder (Delaying the Real World). As Leslie Jamison writes in her foreword, a letter to a stranger is “an account of brushing up—just briefly—against the infinitude of another person,” and the 65 pieces that follow respond to Kinder’s call to write a “letter to the ones who haunt us.” In “To the Man I Believe Was Good,” Lauren Groff writes to an old man she met in Palermo, Italy, as a teenager, who bought her a drink when she had nowhere to stay, grappling with the true nature of his intentions. Monet Thomas describes in “To the Pharmacist on Futong West Street” her encounters with a brisk pharmacist in Beijing, whose presence grounded her when she felt lost, and Sarah Perry recounts in “To the Woman Who Walked Beside Me” the maternal love she felt from a stranger in New York City who saw to her safe return home. Though the prompt is the same, the premise never gets tired, with the globe-trotting writers covering the gamut from strangers who offered a sense of safety or a sense of chaos. Bright and hopeful, this anthology is sure to delight avid travelers. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Refreshingly unique in voice from one to the next but all sharing a lyrical quality . . . Rich with culture, history, and delicious nuggets of local detail . . . Letter to a Stranger is an endearing reminder of the humanity that surrounds us; messy, awkward, compassionate, vulnerable . . . Enchanting.”
—Associated Press

“A celebration of the adventure that is other people.”
—Ariel Levy, author of The Rules Do Not Apply 

“The power of brief encounters is illuminated in this moving collection . . . Bright and hopeful, this anthology is sure to delight avid travelers.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Sweet but often poignant collection . . . Mesmerizing . . . This highly recommended collection of letters would appeal to many types of readers, including individuals interested in creative writing, the epistolary form, or travel literature.”
—Library Journal (starred review)  

“Poignant, vividly described and thought-provoking . . . Each one is a thoughtful, engaging, gemlike tribute to a person whose presence changed each writer's life forever.”
—Shelf Awareness (starred review)

“Guaranteed to fill you with wanderlust.”
—Kirkus Reviews  

“A collection that can be read more than once and feel new each time. Readers looking for quiet contemplation as well as conversation starters will find equal satisfaction in these pages.”
—Booklist

“The process of reflecting on what a stranger meant to one, reveals deep, perhaps hidden, truths about one’s own life . . . A very interesting book and a great approach to thoughtful writing.”
—Manhattan Book Review

“[An] intimate collection of letters from some of the most beloved authors of our time, and perfect is an understatement . . . A book that has earned a permanent spot on my bookshelf, and one I do not think I will ever get tired of skimming through.”
—Grace Sullivan (Fountain Bookstore) in The Southern Bookseller Review

“The symphony of voices in Letter to a Stranger is at times rousing and exhilarating, at other times piercing and plaintive. The human condition is on full display, here in these fleeting glimpses of our essential connectedness. This beautiful book is a perfect one for our times. It reminds us that we are witnesses to one another’s joys and heartaches, even if we never exchange a word.”
—Dani Shapiro, New York Times bestselling author of Inheritance 
 
“By turns, moving, hilarious, and scary, this collection of taut fiery essays is a sprint around the world—all keyhole portraits of unexpected brushes with that one character who flares with meaning.”
—Jack Hitt, author of Bunch of Amateurs 

“A collection of stories from writers who’ve had an amazing experience with someone they don’t know but who has changed their life or impacted their journey . . . Poignant.”
—The Edmonton Journal

From the Publisher

★ 01/01/2022

Kinder (Delaying the Real World), the editor of this sweet but often poignant collection, invited authors to write a letter to a stranger who impacted (or "haunted") them in some way. The resulting 65 mesmerizing essays are categorized under seven themes, including "Gratitude," "Mystery," "Remorse," and "Farewell." Kinder writes that "any nagging ghost makes for a glorious muse," as demonstrated by these letters set all over the globe (including Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Central America, Europe, and assorted cities around the United States), during varied moments in time. Contributors include Lauren Groff, Leslie Jamison, Elizabeth Kolbert, Jacquelyn Mitchard, Cutter Wood, and Rachel Yoder, whose letters describe memorable encounters with strangers that are sometimes charitable, comical, or romantic, and other times frightening or poignant. Several contributors describe impactful interactions with strangers, such as taxi drivers or shopkeepers, during childhood or early adulthood, often while they were traveling. Julia Glass writes a letter to the stranger who guided her around Florence, Italy, four decades ago. Other writers somberly describe family members who feel like strangers to them. VERDICT This highly recommended collection of letters would appeal to many types of readers, including individuals interested in creative writing, the epistolary form, or travel literature.—Erica Swenson Danowitz

Library Journal

2021-07-22
Dozens of writers with something more to say to a person they never knew.

As Leslie Jamison points out in the foreword, "we spend so much of our lives in the company of people we'll never know….How rarely we admit the strange, unannounced ways they lodge inside of us." Jamison was one of the first contributors to a column called "Letter to a Stranger," edited by Kinder for the online magazine she co-founded, Off Assignment. In this anthology, she collects the “most extraordinary” submissions. Many are quite brief, and none are very long, and the thematic sections allow them to bounce off each other in interesting ways. The first section, "Symmetry," includes both Lia Purpura and Michelle Tea reflecting on young strangers they felt a kinship with, one on a plane, the other in a tattoo parlor. In the “Chemistry” section, we read about various sorts of attractions that never came to fruition. Howard Axelrod: "I was twelve; this was nearly thirty years ago, I've never written about you, never spoken about you, not in the weeks afterward to the boys in my cabin, not in the years afterward.” Readers will eagerly await the confidence Axelrod shares next. "Gratitude" includes characters ranging from the disappearing superhero doctor who saved Aria Beth Sloss' baby to "the Drunk Mr. Flunchy," a man "lanky as a Giacometti and more shabby than chic," whose gift to Gregory Pardlo was a physical threat. While many of the essays have an ephemeral quality, some will stick with even the most jaded of reader—e.g., Sophie Haigney's apology to the survivor of a horrible crime whom she tormented with questions in her role as "the media." Other contributors include Pico Iyer, Maggie Shipstead, Elizabeth Kolberg, Jacquelyn Mitchard, and Lucas Mann, with letters originating from all seven continents.

Good stories from writers both popular and unknown, guaranteed to fill you with wanderlust.

Kirkus Reviews