It's a wonderful intimate look at a selection of largely unedited words directly from a brilliant mind. If anything it made me appreciate his autobiography, Surely you're joking Mr. Feynman, even more.

Intimate letters from one of the best minds of the 20th century. What a treat to listen to his daughter curate and re-read Feynman’s correspondence.

Overall a good read, for me getting the chance to read about the emotional side of such huge icon from science world was a great reading experience. Feynman's letter to his dead wife (first wife) and then to his mother and much later to his kids is such a jewel. Also his thoughts on education and over all future of physics are a delight to read.

I really enjoyed this collection of letters to and from Feynman. They provide an intimate look into the person he was and the way he was seen by and interacted with others. The details and nuances of how he wrote his letters and who he chose to write back to are almost as interesting as the contents themselves.

This collection of letters does not show Feynman the clown of "Surely You're Joking ..." or Feynman the brilliant scientist of "Quantum Man" by Michael Krauss or "QED and the Men Who Made It" by Sylvan Schweber, but Feynman the man and, often, Feynman the mensch.

Some letters are very moving, esp. the last letter to his first wife Arline Greenbaum written two years after her death and a letter responding to a Japanese scientist considering himself a failure because he was not brilliant. Feynman's letters responding to teenagers or parent seeking advice, and the mere fact that he took time to answer these requests for guidance from total strangers, also show some very fine qualities of the man that do not come through in other books by or about him.

This book is composed of correspondence to and from Richard Feynman, a Nobel Prize winning physicist. When he was very young he worked on the Manhattan Project and at the end of his career on the causes of the Challenger Space Shuttle accident, but in between he engaged his mind and curiousity and taught hundreds of students in a very engaging way. During his lifetime he was an excellent correspondent and, clearly, people saved his letters, so that today we are privileged to see the man he was -- intensely curious, generous, fun loving, encouraging to others, loving to his family, and never afraid to appear the fool or to fail.

I love Feynman so much that even reading his personal correspondences is a treat.

This collection of his letters was lovingly and expertly curated by his daughter.

It tells a story of his personal life, including tragedy and accolades, as well as his once-in-a-generation personality, flaws and all.

Absolutely one of the best books I have ever read. A glimpse into the life of one of the true greats of the scientific world! Unconventional, witty and charming, Feynman has a wonderful and unique view of the world and the people in it. His takes on the events around him and his attitude towards life are truly magnificent. I aspire to live life with the same commitment, joy and curiosity he had.

"Richard Feynman died less than two years later, on February 15, 1987. When he briefly emerged from a coma induced by kidney failure, his last words [...] were: 'I'd hate to die twice. It's so boring'."

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"I am sure of nothing, and find myself having to say 'I don't know' very often. After all, I was born not knowing and have only had a little time to change that here and there."

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As everything Feynman, this is a book you can more or less quote all the time and never run out of quotes. It took me a lot of time to get to reading his letters because (1) I always find letters too personal (even if the person in question has left many decades ago), and (2) as many people I have a crush on Feynman and the idea that the private Feynman could crash with his public persona was terrifying.

Now I am extremely sad not having read this while younger, because it is such an inspiring and brilliant book. A relentless quest to pursue "what you like", science as the maximal inspiration for what is beautiful in life, humour, self-deprecation, love... The private Feynman is so incredibly similar to the public one, but if possible, even more humble, shy, timid. The book goes from his letters to a terminally ill first wife while working on the atomic bomb, to acute replies to random strangers asking all sort of questions, to encouragements to students, etc. At no point is the book even remotely boring.

Feynman's biography "Genius" was the best year-around book I read several years ago. This one is already the best book I read this year, and I'm thankful for all the effort and skill it took to edit and publish it.

Read half of it. I enjoyed it but just dont care to continue. I think perhaps hardcore fans of Feynman may care about his every letter, but I'd much rather read his lectures or other works than little snippets of letters here and there, although they are quite interesting for a time.

I really liked this collection of Feynman's letters. Charming, surprising and inspiring - we would expect nothing less of Feynman, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that some were also very moving. There are lots of beautiful moments, but the letter that he wrote to his first wife a year and a half after she died is amazing, heartbreaking, hopeful. The only thing that I would have changed about this collection is that it could have benefitted from being edited down a bit further. Some letters were a bit repetitive and I think that overall the book would have been better if it was slightly shorter. It was a lovely touch that it was compiled by Feynman's daughter.

I am addicted to Feynman. Everything about him, everything he writes, anything about his life its a total addiction! Can't get enough. Surely your Joking Mr. Feynman was still the best though.