This tome is a collection of letters, ephemera, notes, cards and documents, all indicating some form of rejection.  Edited by Bill Shapiro, he and his assistants sifted through these chronicles, looking for glimpses into everyday life.  Shapiro notes in his introduction that in addition to the hurdle of convincing people to open up, is the primary problem of finding people who saved such brusque remembrances.  Yet there are plenty of interesting anecdotes in this collective memoir.  
 
Some are funny, some are pointed, and some are touching.  Shapiro includes not only a “typical” rejection letter, but things like eviction notices and break-ups via text message.  There are also documents from the famous.  A thanks but no thanks from MoMA to Andy Warhol and Jimi Hendrix’s discharge papers.  But they are smartly mixed in with everyone else’s, for that is what they are – just like everyone else.

Other People’s Rejection Letters: Relationship Enders, Career Killers, and 150 Other Letters You’ll Be Glad You Didn’t Receive
Hardcover, 192 pages
May 11, 2010
Price: $22.50