When "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" went to war

[Spock]

http://online.wsj.com/articles/how-pape ... sNewsThird

Article and (new book) about paperbacks in WW2.

In case it is hidden behind a WSJ pay wall here is the "Tree Grows" pull quote.

>>>Some letters were heartbreaking. A young Marine wrote to Betty Smith, author of the best seller, “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.” He told her his heart was dead after watching his friend die. “He didn’t think that he was ever going to feel joy or happiness,” Ms. Manning said. For two years, he walked around in an almost comatose state. After contracting malaria he found himself in the hospital without anything to do. When he asked the nurse for a book, she gave him “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.”

“He started reading it, and he could not believe that he laughed,” Ms. Manning said. “He hadn’t laughed in such a long time.”

The book also made him cry—an emotional response that relieved him. Ms. Manning was struck by the way the Marine ended his letter: “I don’t think I would have been able to sleep this night unless I bared my heart to the person who caused it to live again.”<<<<

The Amazon location for the new book.

http://www.amazon.com/When-Books-Went-W ... ent+to+War

[mellytu74]

Thanks for the heads-up, Spock.

I now have a Christmas present for Boonie's BiL. And maybe Boonie's brother.