you belong to a lonely hearts club i ve never done that sort of thing before i d seen the advertisements in the papers well who hasn t young man wants young lady young lady wants young man but i ve never taken them seriously until one day i saw his advertisement even then i tried not to answer it really but it just kept calling out to me he could be seventy five no the advertisement says young man you haven t even asked for a photograph i don t know his name or what he looks like but i have a much more certain guide i can tell exactly what he looks like inside when i undertook this correspondence little did i know i d grow so fond little did i know our views would so cor respond he writes me what his feelings are on shaw flaubert chopin renoir the more i read the more i find we re one in mind and heart i know the kind of home we d share the books the prints the music there a home a life that s warm and full and rich in love and art i don t need to see his handsome profile i don t need to see his manly frame all i need to know is in each letter each long revealing letter i couldn t know him better if i knew his name oh i know him so well ilona i know that he s a very successful person and terribly well educated and he s gentle and kind and soft spoken oh i know all this about him and so much more i ve just never met him that s all if he isn t too handsome true it doesn t much matter but his personal habits are more important than his looks supposing he snores like a locomotive supposing he grinds his teeth supposing he s a knuckle cracker amalia good luck with your books and another small detail that you haven t yet mentioned i am speaking of sex dear when you and he are all alone come to think of it maybe you re right maybe it doesn t matter at that maybe i d do much better myself with a library card and a gramophone he writes his deep est thoughts to me on swift vermeer and debussy de mau passant dumas ducas dufy dufay defoe he thinks as i he feels as i he shares the same ideals as i i ll never find a man who s so so simpatico i know i don t need to see his handsome profile i was taken in by someone s profile i don t need to see his manly frame i was taken in by someone s frame all i need to know is in each letter each how i could have used one long revealing letter i couldn t know him better i hope you do much better if i knew his name i knew his name what s in a name 