Thank You, Everyone: A Lifetime of Gratitude in Letters

When Janis, a 40-year-old speechwriter and journalist, learned from her physician that her mammogram was inconclusive, she vowed that if the second test heralded bad news, she would write a grateful letter to everyone who had helped shape her life positively. Although the second test confirmed her good health, Janis decided to write the letters anyway. This overlong and somewhat tedious compilation of notes to relations, friends, teachers, colleagues and others is the result. Many of the letters, especially those written to her family, express genuine feelings of love and gratitude for the positive roles they played in her childhood, though they lack the universal appeal of, for example, the Chicken Soup series, and would be best appreciated by their intended recipients. Of greater interest are the notes to those who helped shape her career as a journalist. The many missives intended for celebrities, activists and writers, including Marlo Thomas, the Beatles, Woody Allen, Martin Luther King Jr., Gloria Steinem and Allen Drury, are generally insipid. Those addressed to corporations like Mattel for creating Barbie, Citibank for its ATM machines and Boeing for making airplanes are just plain silly. (Apr.)