1976. Letters by Jean Stafford, Dame Rebecca West, Doris Grumbach, and Douglas Brinkley, all written in support of Sheehan's 1976 book A Welfare Mother, which first appeared as an article in The New Yorker. Rebecca West, in a typed letter signed says she is "enchanted" by it, and then explains her word choice before calling the book "important work." The autograph postcard signed from David Brinkley calls the work honest and informative. In an autograph letter signed by Doris Grumbach, Grumbach suggests doing a piece on the book for The Washingtonian. Jean Stafford provides two typed letters signed, the first of which transmits galleys of her unpublished review of the book for Esquire (included here), along with her scathing commentary on Esquire (as well as the Hamptons in Long Island). A follow-up typed letter signed from Stafford mostly chronicles her considerable health issues. Five letters total (note that none are from Sheehan herself), with six retained letters to the named writers, and the unpublished Stafford review. The lot is fine. Sheehan has received high praise for her nonfiction writings, including from Alfred Knopf, who published her book Ten Vietnamese in the 1960s. Her husband, Neil Sheehan, was also a writer: his Vietnam book, A Bright Shining Lie, won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. [#036731] $850