By Malcolm Cowley, from a December 20, 1984, letter to Peter Braestrup, editor of Wilson Quarterly. Best known for his literary criticism, Cowley died in 1989. The Long Voyage: Selected Letters of Malcolm Cowley, 1915–1987, edited by Hans Bak, will be published next month by Harvard University Press.

Dear Mr. Braestrup:

Five years ago I published a little book, The View from 80, that was widely read by my coevals. Several of them said, “We’re waiting for you to write a sequel, The View from 90.” I can’t do that yet — perhaps I can never do it — but I…