Love, Squalor

To the Editors:

Someone ought to point out, ever so gently, to Bernard Bergonzi that “Love? Squalor?” R. V. Cassill’s story about an obliging British deb named Mesmé, just may be a take-off on Salinger’s “For Esmé With Love and Squalor,” and not meant to be taken on quite so huffily.

George R. Clay

Arlington, Vermont

Bernard Bergonzi replies:

One could hardly read a title like “Love? Squalor?” without realizing that some kind of allusion to Salinger is intended. But it didn’t strike me as at all a good parody, and in any case the story had evident pretensions of its own which suggested that Mr. Cassill was getting out of his depth.