Books: Rose, File It. H.S.T.

STRICTLY PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL: THE LETTERS

HARRY TRUMAN NEVER MAILED

Edited by Monte M. Poen; Little, Brown; 210 pages; $10.95

Dashing off a letter in high dudgeon can be good for the nerves and soul. Not sending it can be even better. Self-restraint ennobles outrage. The aggrieved correspondent can have all the fun of venting strong feelings, coupled with a gratifying sense of condescension toward the addressee. There, but for the grace of the writer, goes one angry and insulted so-and-so.

The 33rd President of the U.S. seems, at first blush, an unlikely practitioner of...

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