One afternoon in 1960, a balding cat was thrust upon novelist John Cheever by his old friend Josie Herbst, who explained that she could no longer keep him. Cheever reluctantly homed the cat, but they didn’t get on; so much so that Cheever’s friendship with Herbst soon deteriorated. The rift finally healed in 1963, when Cheever sent Herbst the letter you're about to hear.

At Letters Live at London's Royal Albert Hall in November 2023, Woody Harrelson joined us to give this hilarious reading of Cheever's letter.

© Benjamin Cheever 1988, used by permission of The Wylie Agency (UK)