Often compared to William Faulkner, renowned American writer William Humphrey (1924?1997) worked to shatter myths about the South in his criticism, short stories, and novels, including The Ordways, Home from the Hill, and Proud Flesh. This collection of Humphrey's best letters deserves space on the bookshelf alongside his acclaimed prose. Beginning in the 1940s when, as a true starving artist, he wore borrowed clothes and could afford only one meal a day, the letters move to his time as a goatherd, his stint as a teacher at Bard College, and his middle years in Europe. They continue as he returns to America and begins teaching at Washington and Lee, MIT, Princeton, and Smith.