title: Essential Solitude: The Letters of H. P. Lovecraft and August Derleth (2 VOLUME SET)
author: H. P. Lovecraft
description: This monumental two-volume compendium gathers the correspondence between horror writer H.P. Lovecraft (18901937) and one of his most devoted disciples, August Derleth (19091971). Schultz and Joshi have scrupulously edited and annotated the hundreds of letters that survive, the bulk on Lovecraft's side, from Derleth's first epistle sent in care of <i>Weird Tales</i> magazine in July 1926 to Lovecraft's final missive penned a month before his untimely death 11 years later. While philosophical disquisitions are few, Lovecraft's letters present an appealing portrait of a man keen to share his interest in the literature of the weird with a fellow enthusiast. Reproductions of drawings Lovecraft used to illustrate his letters, an appendix that includes Derleth's posthumous tributes to his friend, a list of both men's contributions to <i>Weird Tales</i> and more enhance the scholarly package. <i>(Jan.)</i> <br />Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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  ## Contents
  
  
  
  
  
  * [Cover](cover.xhtml)
  
  
  * [Praise for _Sing Backwards and Weep_](praise.xhtml)
  
  
  * [Dedication](dedication.xhtml)
  
  
  * [Title Page](title.xhtml)
  
  
  * [Contents](contents.xhtml)
  
  
  * [Epigraph](epigraph.xhtml)
  
  
  * [Prologue](prologue.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  * [1 Childhood of a Fiend](chapter_001.xhtml)
  
  
  * [2 The Fragile Kingdom](chapter_002.xhtml)
  
  
  * [3 Seduced, Fucked](chapter_003.xhtml)
  
  
  * [4 If You Start Again, It Will Be as Though You’d Never Stopped](chapter_004.xhtml)
  
  
  * [5 Meatloaf](chapter_005.xhtml)
  
  
  * [6 Tiny Daggers](chapter_006.xhtml)
  
  
  * [7 Fired, Rehired, and a Thousand Forms of Fear](chapter_007.xhtml)
  
  
  * [8 Nice Wardrobe](chapter_008.xhtml)
  
  
  * [9 Yeah, This Is the Cops!](chapter_009.xhtml)
  
  
  * [10 House of Pain](chapter_010.xhtml)
  
  
  * [11 Drinking Bloody Water](chapter_011.xhtml)
  
  
  * [12 Strung Out and Exhausted](chapter_012.xhtml)
  
  
  * [13 Enjoying the Idiot](chapter_013.xhtml)
  
  
  * [14 Not Bad, Young Fella](chapter_014.xhtml)
  
  
  * [15 Take Me to the River](ch