A review by rebeccahussey
The Ferrante Letters: An Experiment in Collective Criticism by Katherine Hill, Merve Emre, Sarah Chihaya, Jill Richards

This book is a must-read for anyone who loves Elena Ferrante and for anyone who wants to think about new directions in literary criticism. Four critics got together and decided to read Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels over the course of a summer and write letters to each other about the experience. This book collects those letters and also includes a more formal essay by each author developing ideas explored during the group reading. The letters and essays mix personal responses to the books with insights into their artistry: their characters, style, themes, etc. As a Ferrante fan, and as someone who likes innovative writing about literature, I loved this unusual form of criticism. The letters and essays felt intimate, ground-breaking, and vital. I would love to see more academic criticism that is communal and unafraid to acknowledge that it’s written by real people whose lives, experiences, and emotions affect their interpretations.

https://bookriot.com/2020/01/08/indie-press-books-january-2020/