Phil Baker guides us through the morbid, wistful and yet immensely charming world of the writer and illustrator Edward Gorey; Frances Wilson weighs the pleasures and pains of letter and email writing; Ian Sansom on the struggle to be funny
Books
Born To Be Posthumous: The eccentric life and mysterious genius of Edward Gorey, by Mark Dery
What a Hazard a Letter Is: The strange destiny of the unsent letter, by Caroline Atkins
Written In History: Letters that changed the world, by Simon Sebag Montefiore
In Their Own Words: Volume 2: More letters from history
Wit's End: What wit is, how it works, and why we need it, by James Geary
Messing About In Quotes: A little Oxford dictionary of humorous quotations, compiled by Gyles Brandreth