Much appreciation should go out to Coady for putting together this nugget of letters between Thomas Merton (inner spiritual perfectionist) and Evelyn Waugh (prose perfectionist). She also provides commentary equaling the panache of these men. Both men repeatedly write each other committed to an honest critique of their craft as exhibited by one of the early letters from Merton stating, “I need criticism the way a man dying of thirst needs water.” One can get glimpses that the authors do not pull punches as one letter has Waugh accusing Merton of pattern-bombing in his writing instead of precision bombing.

I’m so grateful to the gift Coady offers of a glimpse behind the curtain of these two giants.