Letters from Max: A Poet, a Teacher, a Friendship

Moving and erudite . . . devastating and lyrical . . . Ruhl draws a comparison between their correspondence and that between poets Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop, and indeed, with the depth and intelligence displayed, one feels in the presence of literary titans. --Publishers Weekly

Deeply moving, often heartbreaking . . . a captivating celebration of life and love. --Kirkus (starred review)

I will read more books in my life but I will not love another book more than this one. I suspect this book has the power to reassure the weary and to instill faith in anyone who needs it. If they let you bring books when you die, I will 100 percent put this one in the tiny stack that goes with me. --Mary-Louise Parker, author of Dear Mr. You

Revelatory in every way, Letters from Max is an unusual, beautiful book about nothing less than the necessity of art in our lives. Two big-hearted, big-brained writers have allowed us to eavesdrop on their friendship: jokes and heartbreaks, admiration, hard work, tender work. --Elizabeth McCracken, author of Thunderstruck & Other Stories

I expected the letters between these two artists to be profoundly brilliant and profoundly heartbreaking. And they are. But what I didn't expect, and what makes the experience of reading this conversation a sublime one, is the abiding and generous humor throughout, the element that, as Max Ritvo says, 'makes our sadness rhyme with joy.' Resisting any lesson to be found in Ritvo's impending death, the letters between these two friends instead enact a deep and instructive compassion and pay ardent attention to what it means to continue to live a life, even one that will end tragically and too soon. In giving the world these breathtaking letters, Sarah Ruhl, with humility and humanity, goes far in preserving the legacy of the poet Max Ritvo. --Carrie Fountain, author of I'm Not Missing

Letters from Max is a story of two brilliant beings unfolding each other's hearts and minds until even death is a gift and listening never ends. I read it once without stopping and read it again and again. Every page is a revelation about the unflinching mysteries of life. --Beth Henley, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama

Praise for Max Ritvo and Sarah Ruhl

Electric . . . Although Ritvo is inimitable, his example is there for young poets wanting to forsake simple transcriptive dailiness for the wilder country of the afflicted but dancing body and the devastated but joking mind. --Helen Vendler, Poetry

Almost every time I speak of Ritvo, I am compelled to use the word 'luminous.' --Lucie Brock-Broido

Ruhl writes in a poised, crystalline style about things that are irrational and invisible. . . . Full of astonishments, surprises, and mysteries. --John Lahr, New Yorker