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Letter to a Stranger: Essays to the Ones Who Haunt Us
“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 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.
—Dani Shapiro, author of Inheritance
Sixty-five extraordinary writers grapple with this 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.
336 pages, Paperback
First published March 22, 2022
189 people are currently reading
7298 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 167 reviews
August 5, 2021
There was the woman sitting in the movie theater a few seats away. I glanced at her and saw myself. My Doppelganger. Did she recognize me, as well?
And the older lady who sat down at my table in the downtown mall food court, an academic who told me that every culture has a sandwich, a meal wrapped in something.
And most of all, the woman who saw the child me standing in front of the toys in the grocery store, contemplating the cellophane bags of plastic cowboys and Indians and knights on horses and dogs of all breeds. I was seven or eight, very blond and golden-skinned from the sun, chubby with full cheeks and a round tummy, and a gap between my front teeth. She told me I would grow up to be beautiful. No one ever had said that to me. I was told I could look like Cinderella, if I lost weight. That I would grow up to be the fat lady in the circus if I didn’t lose weight. I was awestruck.
Strangers can impact our lives with indelible memories.
I was charmed by the idea of a book of letters written to the strangers who haunted people. Letters to a Stranger includes 60 short essays addressed to the person whose life intersected with the author, briefly, but with a lasting impact.
Passing Stanger! You do not know how longingly I look upon you,/You must be he I was seeking, or she I was seeking…
Walt Whitman, To a Stranger
“You, stranger, haunt the storyteller,” Coleen Kinder writes in her Introduction. I loved how contributors took me across the world to New York City, Portland, Oregon, Denmark, California, Beijing, Uganda, Peru, Berlin, Florence, Pakistan, Mexico, and even Antarctica.
The letters are arranged in themes. Symmetry, Mystery, Chemistry, Gratitude, Wonder. Remorse, Farewell.
The essays have intriguing titles. To the Boo Radley of my Childhood (Peter Turchi). To the Woman Whose Shoulder I Slept On (Keija Parssinen). To the Woman With the Restraining Order (Maggie Shipstead). To the Poet Who Disappeared (T Kira Madden).
The pandemic changed everything. We hid behind masks, swerved to avoid strangers on the sidewalk, stood distanced in line. It is good to remember when we were not afraid of strangers, when we could travel to new and sometimes uncomfortable places.
I enjoy reading these letters and the experiences they share. And they make me think of my own stories, the untold tales of the impact of strangers in my own life.
I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.
And the older lady who sat down at my table in the downtown mall food court, an academic who told me that every culture has a sandwich, a meal wrapped in something.
And most of all, the woman who saw the child me standing in front of the toys in the grocery store, contemplating the cellophane bags of plastic cowboys and Indians and knights on horses and dogs of all breeds. I was seven or eight, very blond and golden-skinned from the sun, chubby with full cheeks and a round tummy, and a gap between my front teeth. She told me I would grow up to be beautiful. No one ever had said that to me. I was told I could look like Cinderella, if I lost weight. That I would grow up to be the fat lady in the circus if I didn’t lose weight. I was awestruck.
Strangers can impact our lives with indelible memories.
I was charmed by the idea of a book of letters written to the strangers who haunted people. Letters to a Stranger includes 60 short essays addressed to the person whose life intersected with the author, briefly, but with a lasting impact.
Passing Stanger! You do not know how longingly I look upon you,/You must be he I was seeking, or she I was seeking…
Walt Whitman, To a Stranger
“You, stranger, haunt the storyteller,” Coleen Kinder writes in her Introduction. I loved how contributors took me across the world to New York City, Portland, Oregon, Denmark, California, Beijing, Uganda, Peru, Berlin, Florence, Pakistan, Mexico, and even Antarctica.
The letters are arranged in themes. Symmetry, Mystery, Chemistry, Gratitude, Wonder. Remorse, Farewell.
The essays have intriguing titles. To the Boo Radley of my Childhood (Peter Turchi). To the Woman Whose Shoulder I Slept On (Keija Parssinen). To the Woman With the Restraining Order (Maggie Shipstead). To the Poet Who Disappeared (T Kira Madden).
The pandemic changed everything. We hid behind masks, swerved to avoid strangers on the sidewalk, stood distanced in line. It is good to remember when we were not afraid of strangers, when we could travel to new and sometimes uncomfortable places.
I enjoy reading these letters and the experiences they share. And they make me think of my own stories, the untold tales of the impact of strangers in my own life.
I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.
February 8, 2022
this was a nice concept but I think I was a little ambitious trying to read it all together like a regular book. my poor attention span can't do this. it's one of those collections where you can read a few letters per day and be content with it, which isn't a bad thing! just not for me at the moment
February 22, 2023
Another one where I read a bit each day (the best way to read it in my humble opinion), so I could hear something heartwarming at the end of a long day, hear about the kind of people out in the world, how we can have an impact, good or bad, without knowing it or realizing how much.
This book I tried a few times before but the timing wasn't quite right but something "clicked" and I looked forward to reading it each day:).
I think this book was meant for me to read now, along with another book with kind of similar themes (Kind words for unkind days).. with everything going on in my life right now.
Some of the letters aren't as compelling as the others but majority of the book I enjoyed reading.
Not sure who I'd recommend this to but I would say give it a try and see how it lands with you.
This book I tried a few times before but the timing wasn't quite right but something "clicked" and I looked forward to reading it each day:).
I think this book was meant for me to read now, along with another book with kind of similar themes (Kind words for unkind days).. with everything going on in my life right now.
Some of the letters aren't as compelling as the others but majority of the book I enjoyed reading.
Not sure who I'd recommend this to but I would say give it a try and see how it lands with you.
February 15, 2022
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. Here's my review.
Letters to a Stranger is a book of essays/letters where writers focus on chance encounters that impacted their lives. The premise is interesting and made me think about random encounters in my own life. The execution was uneven.
Some of the essays are interesting, touching, funny, emotionally resonant. Some aren't. It's a mixed bag. Which is true of almost any anthology. I think, in the end, that what this book shows is that our encounters with people are very personal and don't necessarily make for compelling reading. The bits that worked best for me were the essays that didn't try to make a point. Just telling a story is sometimes enough.
I would suggest dipping into this book randomly. Don't try to read it all the way through. Try a story here, a musing there. Use it as a little snack rather than a feast.
Letters to a Stranger is a book of essays/letters where writers focus on chance encounters that impacted their lives. The premise is interesting and made me think about random encounters in my own life. The execution was uneven.
Some of the essays are interesting, touching, funny, emotionally resonant. Some aren't. It's a mixed bag. Which is true of almost any anthology. I think, in the end, that what this book shows is that our encounters with people are very personal and don't necessarily make for compelling reading. The bits that worked best for me were the essays that didn't try to make a point. Just telling a story is sometimes enough.
I would suggest dipping into this book randomly. Don't try to read it all the way through. Try a story here, a musing there. Use it as a little snack rather than a feast.
January 28, 2022
I loved reading this. Such a creative theme and the letters ranged from simple and casual encounters to heartbreaking lifelong hauntings. This book inspired me to write and submit my own “Letter to a Stranger.”
February 3, 2022
I have now become the reader who goes to the library to pick up a book - and leaves with that one and three more. I chose this one on a whim. The results were unexpected.
If nothing else, these stories will take you to back to these random moments with random people in your life. A travel or an airport or a park or a museum or a store, anywhere you had a random interaction with a total stranger, sometimes unbelievably short, but somehow you remember the incident year after year. This book is a collection of THOSE stories - short vignettes- random moments in life where you meet a stranger and that person stays in your head and in your life. We all have those stories, and this book will make you remember those people..... one of mine is an elderly man named David who - by all accounts - was too old to travel alone, but he was on his second trip to New Zealand - using his time on the plane to make rosaries out of precious stones. He said when it was "his time" the "good Lord" would have to come looking for him..... ha!
My favorite snippets:
"my father is a doctor. He loves creature comforts -- a good meal, a warm bath, a nice creme brûlée. I have always envied him the brute physicality of his work, concrete in all the ways mine is not. Sometimes I wonder what I've done with my life, choosing to traffic in a thousand shades of gray."
"we are all on solitary missions leaked out to us one cryptic cable at a time"
"It was no grand gesture. You sacrificed ten cents, maybe twenty, in the act, but I remember it often. I see a car abandoned on the shoulder of the road, a mattress laid out beneath a rusting bridge, and I feel the world might collapse beneath the weight of its own indifference, and I think of you."
"...the personality I have been given is that of a frantic striver -- one who always longs to be better and do better and make it better. There are gifts in that way of being, but mostly it's exhausting and sometimes no more efficacious than waiting coolly for the right moment. I won't ever strike people as a woman complete in her own skin. I can accept my nature all I want, but my nature is, immutable, that of a person who wants to change."
"the antidote to harm is so simple. Love your neighbor. Try to help."
"so when your kids who are grown people tap-tapped their phones as you smiled and ate, reaching for your jokes, awed at everything around you -- the warm food, the lighthouse, the stranger with her strange dictionary -- I though, they will regret this. All the not-seeing."
"that's the rarest kind of stranger, isn't it? The kind that makes you feel known."
If nothing else, these stories will take you to back to these random moments with random people in your life. A travel or an airport or a park or a museum or a store, anywhere you had a random interaction with a total stranger, sometimes unbelievably short, but somehow you remember the incident year after year. This book is a collection of THOSE stories - short vignettes- random moments in life where you meet a stranger and that person stays in your head and in your life. We all have those stories, and this book will make you remember those people..... one of mine is an elderly man named David who - by all accounts - was too old to travel alone, but he was on his second trip to New Zealand - using his time on the plane to make rosaries out of precious stones. He said when it was "his time" the "good Lord" would have to come looking for him..... ha!
My favorite snippets:
"my father is a doctor. He loves creature comforts -- a good meal, a warm bath, a nice creme brûlée. I have always envied him the brute physicality of his work, concrete in all the ways mine is not. Sometimes I wonder what I've done with my life, choosing to traffic in a thousand shades of gray."
"we are all on solitary missions leaked out to us one cryptic cable at a time"
"It was no grand gesture. You sacrificed ten cents, maybe twenty, in the act, but I remember it often. I see a car abandoned on the shoulder of the road, a mattress laid out beneath a rusting bridge, and I feel the world might collapse beneath the weight of its own indifference, and I think of you."
"...the personality I have been given is that of a frantic striver -- one who always longs to be better and do better and make it better. There are gifts in that way of being, but mostly it's exhausting and sometimes no more efficacious than waiting coolly for the right moment. I won't ever strike people as a woman complete in her own skin. I can accept my nature all I want, but my nature is, immutable, that of a person who wants to change."
"the antidote to harm is so simple. Love your neighbor. Try to help."
"so when your kids who are grown people tap-tapped their phones as you smiled and ate, reaching for your jokes, awed at everything around you -- the warm food, the lighthouse, the stranger with her strange dictionary -- I though, they will regret this. All the not-seeing."
"that's the rarest kind of stranger, isn't it? The kind that makes you feel known."
March 24, 2025
Not my favourite read, but a great reminder that you never know how you impact someone as you move throughout the world
March 2, 2022
this book is great . here is an amazon link to it if you want check out https://amzn.to/3vtDfeg
June 2, 2022
Really cool concept that I hope I apply to my life. I didn’t realize how many strangers I’ve encountered and how many of them have impacted me in large ways until reflecting while reading this book.
May 17, 2022
"These essays invite our stowaways to climb up from beneath the deck. These essays don't say, I knew you. They say, I never really knew you. They confess their own partial gazes. They open up territories we didn't know we had inside of us. They offer themselves a vessel for our least official ghosts. They confess the magic lanterns of meaning and speculation that would project onto strangers lives. They confess the ways we make them characters in our stories. They try to liberate them from these roles. They say, you were more. They say, you are unknown to me. They say, here is something of my unknowning."~Leslie Jamieson: From The Forward
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🌿
Thoughts~
A haunting, beautiful, and facinating collection of letters ruminating on brief encounters with strangers and our human connectedness.
The whole concept of this collection grabbed me from the moment I first heard of it. Everyone has had thoes exchanges in passing with another human, a stranger, who have left some sort of mark on us in that moment of time to whome we never see again. And in thoes moments we feel our interconnectedness as humans and strangers. I loved all the contributions exploring this. My favorites were Leslie Jamison, Michelle Tea, Madeline Lucas, T.Kira Madden, and Rachel Yoder but the whole collection is quite compelling.
Thank You to @thomasallenltd for sending me this book opinions are my own.
For more of my book content check out instagram.com/bookalong
•
🌿
Thoughts~
A haunting, beautiful, and facinating collection of letters ruminating on brief encounters with strangers and our human connectedness.
The whole concept of this collection grabbed me from the moment I first heard of it. Everyone has had thoes exchanges in passing with another human, a stranger, who have left some sort of mark on us in that moment of time to whome we never see again. And in thoes moments we feel our interconnectedness as humans and strangers. I loved all the contributions exploring this. My favorites were Leslie Jamison, Michelle Tea, Madeline Lucas, T.Kira Madden, and Rachel Yoder but the whole collection is quite compelling.
Thank You to @thomasallenltd for sending me this book opinions are my own.
For more of my book content check out instagram.com/bookalong
April 18, 2022
DNF. Read about half of it. I would think that letters would be more carefully crafted. While some were interesting, mostly it was more about the writer than the stranger so it became navel gazing. Perhaps that's what looking at a stranger is: looking at why the stranger intrigued us. But, ultimatly, that wasn't enough to hold my interest until the end.
February 9, 2025
This was clearly a fun writing prompt for a large number of people: write a letter to a person who crossed your path at some time, who made their presence felt and has never quite faded into the past. I could write a book about my impressively memorable strangers (but I won't, I know me.) Of course I found it uneven, as collections like this usually are, but most - with the exception of one surprisingly racy encounter - were fun, surprising and/or moving, and a couple encouraged me to search out those particular authors' other work. It wasn't a surprise to me that many, if not most, of the stories took place in Europe or Asia, as if the writers chose to remember the exotic rather than the domestic strangers they've met and interacted with. To be fair, many of the stories involved strangers actually helping, feeding or protecting the writers in ways that might not have been necessary closer to home.
My absolute favourite of all the stories was "To the Woman Who Spared Me an Orange" by Sarah Menkedick, that begins "I was scared of everything then." Other favourites were by Monet Patrice Thomas, Maggie Shipstead, and Amber Meadow Adams, all striking in their sincerity and willingness to share what felt like their true selves with the reader. Looking forward to maybe a new collection of letters some day. 4 stars
My absolute favourite of all the stories was "To the Woman Who Spared Me an Orange" by Sarah Menkedick, that begins "I was scared of everything then." Other favourites were by Monet Patrice Thomas, Maggie Shipstead, and Amber Meadow Adams, all striking in their sincerity and willingness to share what felt like their true selves with the reader. Looking forward to maybe a new collection of letters some day. 4 stars
December 29, 2022
3.5 stars but i'll round up. i enjoyed this but should've spread it out a little more/read a little at a time instead of in big chunks like i did. but that's a me thing!
March 24, 2022
Book Review: To A Stranger: Essays To The Ones That Haunt Us edited by Colleen Kinder
When Walt Whitman wrote the poem To A Stranger over 160 years ago he examined the connection between people who are previously unknown to each other. This collection of essays takes it one step further and asks sixty-five writers to create a letter to a stranger from their past. Each essay is unique and authentic and leaves the reader wondering, “who are the strangers that shaped me and what would I say to that person now?”
From brief everyday encounters to longer intense interactions these essays cover everything including love, loss, collisions and dodged bullets. Where strangers were mostly kind, sometimes wise, often taken for granted and only with time was the author able to see the impact on their own life. With locations from all over the world you will definitely walk away from this book with some travel envy and I picked up some extra knowledge about people and places I was woefully ignorant on.
I highly recommend To A Stranger to memoir, essay and non-fiction fans that like reading about real people reflecting on their lives.
4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
When Walt Whitman wrote the poem To A Stranger over 160 years ago he examined the connection between people who are previously unknown to each other. This collection of essays takes it one step further and asks sixty-five writers to create a letter to a stranger from their past. Each essay is unique and authentic and leaves the reader wondering, “who are the strangers that shaped me and what would I say to that person now?”
From brief everyday encounters to longer intense interactions these essays cover everything including love, loss, collisions and dodged bullets. Where strangers were mostly kind, sometimes wise, often taken for granted and only with time was the author able to see the impact on their own life. With locations from all over the world you will definitely walk away from this book with some travel envy and I picked up some extra knowledge about people and places I was woefully ignorant on.
I highly recommend To A Stranger to memoir, essay and non-fiction fans that like reading about real people reflecting on their lives.
4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
August 21, 2021
Book: Letter to a Stranger: Essays to the Ones Who Haunt Us
Author: Colleen Kinder
Rating: 4 Out of 5 Stars
I would like to thank the publisher, Algonquin Books, for sending me an ARC.
Whenever I pick up a collection written by different authors, I always get a little nervous. For me, these kinds of books can go either way. I found myself, though, highly invested in this collection. These are letters written in second person-so if you get far enough into it, it almost feels like these letters were written for you. By having that mindset, it feels like you are out and about in the world with the authors and just having a normal conversation. When I had this mindset, I found myself really enjoying the book. Now, with like with other collections, there was a few that I didn’t enjoy as much, but for the most time, I did enjoy it.
What I really liked about the letters was the fact that they are written in letter length. This means that each entry is one the shorter side. I know, I know, a lot of times with a shorter entry, we don’t always get the whole picture. That isn’t the case here. Each letter is focused on a certain scene or more in the author’s life and how a stranger impacted that moment. We get the interaction and how it has affected the author-this means we get a scene with some thoughts. Afterwards, we move on to the next letter. It sounds rather choppy, but I found that it worked. While it wasn’t too much information, it was enough to throw us into the moment and get a little insight as to what was going on in both the author’s and the stranger’s life at that given moment.
It also gives us a reminder as to what pre-COVID-19 life was like, when we weren’t afraid to travel, afraid of strangers, and was out there experiencing the world. It reminded us of a time when we could go out and not feel uncomfortable by our daily surroundings. It gave us some insight to what the world used to look like and what we having awaiting us once this nightmare is over. It gives us hope-hope in a time in which we need all the good news we can get. Oh, yes, some of these letters are rather on the darker side, but for the most part, they offer us these little tidbits of the softer side of human nature. Sometimes you just need a book like this to allow you get away from the real world.
Overall, I had a good time with this one. If you are someone who enjoys travel and essays in the form of a letter, I think you will enjoy this one.
This book comes out on October 5, 2021.
Youtube: https://youtu.be/PLv8xauOzA0
Author: Colleen Kinder
Rating: 4 Out of 5 Stars
I would like to thank the publisher, Algonquin Books, for sending me an ARC.
Whenever I pick up a collection written by different authors, I always get a little nervous. For me, these kinds of books can go either way. I found myself, though, highly invested in this collection. These are letters written in second person-so if you get far enough into it, it almost feels like these letters were written for you. By having that mindset, it feels like you are out and about in the world with the authors and just having a normal conversation. When I had this mindset, I found myself really enjoying the book. Now, with like with other collections, there was a few that I didn’t enjoy as much, but for the most time, I did enjoy it.
What I really liked about the letters was the fact that they are written in letter length. This means that each entry is one the shorter side. I know, I know, a lot of times with a shorter entry, we don’t always get the whole picture. That isn’t the case here. Each letter is focused on a certain scene or more in the author’s life and how a stranger impacted that moment. We get the interaction and how it has affected the author-this means we get a scene with some thoughts. Afterwards, we move on to the next letter. It sounds rather choppy, but I found that it worked. While it wasn’t too much information, it was enough to throw us into the moment and get a little insight as to what was going on in both the author’s and the stranger’s life at that given moment.
It also gives us a reminder as to what pre-COVID-19 life was like, when we weren’t afraid to travel, afraid of strangers, and was out there experiencing the world. It reminded us of a time when we could go out and not feel uncomfortable by our daily surroundings. It gave us some insight to what the world used to look like and what we having awaiting us once this nightmare is over. It gives us hope-hope in a time in which we need all the good news we can get. Oh, yes, some of these letters are rather on the darker side, but for the most part, they offer us these little tidbits of the softer side of human nature. Sometimes you just need a book like this to allow you get away from the real world.
Overall, I had a good time with this one. If you are someone who enjoys travel and essays in the form of a letter, I think you will enjoy this one.
This book comes out on October 5, 2021.
Youtube: https://youtu.be/PLv8xauOzA0
December 15, 2022
Oh, how I wanted to love this book bursting with essays of appreciation for life's chance encounters never forgotten. I expect most of us could provide a story off the top of our head about a one-time meeting that left an impact on us. I have a number of such stories myself. Regrettably, the book dragged for me, despite the essays being grouped into like categories - mystery, gratitude, farewell. I like the concept behind this book but the stories didn't interest me much.
The ten best stories in the book were surrounding CHEMISTRY. The one-enchanted-evening-you-will-see-a-stranger-across-a-crowded-room kind of chemistry. I liked all of those essays, which probably explains my proclivity to Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals (another book on my TBR list).
I started this book in April. It is now nearly year's end and I slugged through the rest of the book only because I want to start 2023 with a clean book slate.
The ten best stories in the book were surrounding CHEMISTRY. The one-enchanted-evening-you-will-see-a-stranger-across-a-crowded-room kind of chemistry. I liked all of those essays, which probably explains my proclivity to Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals (another book on my TBR list).
I started this book in April. It is now nearly year's end and I slugged through the rest of the book only because I want to start 2023 with a clean book slate.
January 9, 2023
I adored the concept of this book, but I struggled to get through it. We all have those strangers who haunt us, and I wanted to hear about others’ strangers.
While there are a handful of these essays that will make you cry or make you think or make you smile, many of them are just plain boring and some are so self-centered, you question if they are about a stranger or about the author when a stranger happened to be in their presence.
This book is okay for picking up every now and then, but don’t expect to be able to plow through it. It’s too difficult.
While there are a handful of these essays that will make you cry or make you think or make you smile, many of them are just plain boring and some are so self-centered, you question if they are about a stranger or about the author when a stranger happened to be in their presence.
This book is okay for picking up every now and then, but don’t expect to be able to plow through it. It’s too difficult.
August 14, 2024
The premise of the book far surpasses its overall quality. I found myself mulling over what I would write for my own strangers but felt no connection to most of the letters in this collection. I think this is written for readers who can pick it up one letter at a time, unlike myself who absolutely has to finish one book before I can pick up another. That it was built to be consumed like that kind of ruined the experience for me because I had to navigate different experiences of different people across continents in just a turn of a page.
November 28, 2021
This is a wonderful collection of letters written to people with whom the authors had chance encounters or special brief connections. I especially like the one written by the poet Kiki Petrosino about the time after her graduation when she lived with her grandmother.
September 7, 2022
This book is a collection of essays about the chance encounters and brief meetings that leave a lasting mark. A few felt flat or forgettable, but on the whole I was impressed with the quality of the writing and the explorations of why some people stick with us for years, even when we never really knew them.
Inevitably, I thought of some of my own strangers, like the customer who lifted an ice bucket for me during a terrible restaurant shift, or the woman with two small children who waited with me after I'd run off the road in the ice, or the man who called the insurance company where I worked at 9:30 in the morning, drunk and saying he was going to kill himself because he was in love with a married woman. I have wondered many times who those people (and others) were and what became of them, so this collection resonated with me.
Letter to a Stranger is a nudge to notice our interconnectedness, for good or for ill, and to find the value in our interactions with one another, whether the lesson is kindness or strength or community or pain. I'll probably read this again in the future.
Inevitably, I thought of some of my own strangers, like the customer who lifted an ice bucket for me during a terrible restaurant shift, or the woman with two small children who waited with me after I'd run off the road in the ice, or the man who called the insurance company where I worked at 9:30 in the morning, drunk and saying he was going to kill himself because he was in love with a married woman. I have wondered many times who those people (and others) were and what became of them, so this collection resonated with me.
Letter to a Stranger is a nudge to notice our interconnectedness, for good or for ill, and to find the value in our interactions with one another, whether the lesson is kindness or strength or community or pain. I'll probably read this again in the future.
July 19, 2025
Strangers are the most impactful people we meet. I love a good short story collection. This one gathers everything I love in these collections. Quick, pointed, and emotion full.
“When we stopped talking, we smiled at each other, and a moment later there was your wife and your children, coming around the bend in the trail. I felt the things we had said float between us like the heat, things too honest for people we loved. Then you said goodbye and walked back to meet them, to join your steps with theirs.”
“So thank you, Enrico Ferrante, for what didn’t happen, for what you didn’t do, for what I didn’t find in the menacing dreamland of Palermo, for the way your gentle intervention sent me away.”
“Maybe we talked for five minutes, maybe ten, I don’t know. It was a different kind of time.”
“I had come a long way, to the threshold of what I’d hoped would be one of the more exciting reading adventures of my life, but it turned out that my conversation with you was the part of that day that had life in it, that pushed me on-toward a destination I’m still not sure of, feeling my way by what makes a spark, turning away quickly from what doesn’t.”
“When we stopped talking, we smiled at each other, and a moment later there was your wife and your children, coming around the bend in the trail. I felt the things we had said float between us like the heat, things too honest for people we loved. Then you said goodbye and walked back to meet them, to join your steps with theirs.”
“So thank you, Enrico Ferrante, for what didn’t happen, for what you didn’t do, for what I didn’t find in the menacing dreamland of Palermo, for the way your gentle intervention sent me away.”
“Maybe we talked for five minutes, maybe ten, I don’t know. It was a different kind of time.”
“I had come a long way, to the threshold of what I’d hoped would be one of the more exciting reading adventures of my life, but it turned out that my conversation with you was the part of that day that had life in it, that pushed me on-toward a destination I’m still not sure of, feeling my way by what makes a spark, turning away quickly from what doesn’t.”
July 26, 2022
That was a delightful book. Each letter was only two-four pages long so I could pop into and out of the book easily. The concept to me was fascinating—how people who brush by our lives leave an impact that can last for years and years. Some for good. Some for evil. It made me think of the people to whom I could write letters; there are people with whom I have interacted that I still think of even if I don’t know their names or only knew for a few short days. It also made me contemplate the impact that I have on others around me—people I see in the grocery store or that are driving on the road with me or the other mothers in the library or at the park. We really can touch others and make a difference, even if we have sparse interactions.
March 21, 2024
This collection of essays contains the work of an extensive list of contributors. Each essay is a rather short—a few pages, give or take—but impactful reflection on an encounter with a stranger that “haunts” each writer. The letters are diverse and tell a unique story about how seemingly ordinary moments—seemingly ordinary people—leave an imprint on us.
As editor Colleen Kinder puts it, “How can a person so ephemeral leave such an eternal mark?”
I enjoyed getting lost in these letters that prompted a little day dreaming of my own.
As editor Colleen Kinder puts it, “How can a person so ephemeral leave such an eternal mark?”
I enjoyed getting lost in these letters that prompted a little day dreaming of my own.
March 15, 2022
I have always found unsent letters fascinating, and have written quite a few in my life. These snapshots into the writer’s world exemplify the intimate impact strangers unknowingly have on us all. We all have had random encounters that make us think twice, question ourselves, or connect to something deep within. LETTER TO A STRANGER embraces the rawness of the human soul and the reflective introspection into the subtle effects of the world on us.
April 8, 2022
What a fascinating project! The form and content of the letters are perhaps as diverse as the origins of the letters themselves. Yet, at the same time, there are common themes and a universality running through all of them. All themes are ideas the reader can relate to, and all trigger an emotion. The form of the book itself triggers an emotion. Throughout this book, as I read letter after letter, strangers who touched my life come to mind.
Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2022...
Reviewed for NetGalley and a publisher’s blog tour.
Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2022...
Reviewed for NetGalley and a publisher’s blog tour.
June 26, 2021
As soon as I read the description for this book I thought it sounded so intriguing. I found myself skimming over some stories and no judgement to those people but they didn’t hold my interest. A great book idea.
March 28, 2023
Found at my local library branch in "new" non-fiction and after a quick synopsis skim I brought it home. As someone who is haunted...or whatever, with the encounters and moments with strangers that others may not deem important, these letters/essays got to me and had me romanticizing the ones I'd write.
November 17, 2022
that was cute
August 14, 2023
one of the best books i’ve ever read, i will think of it for years and years (plus it had short essays - my fav)
January 26, 2025
An easy five stars - I almost cried roughly 12 times but real tears maybe 5 or 6? I’ve never read something so perfectly human.
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