Epistles from Paul (Rosa)

Letter writing is widely regarded as a lost art form. Who, after all, has come along to match the famous correspondents of the past--Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, for example, or Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning?

Well, now there is Paul Rosa.

Rosa, a stand-up comic who lives in Colorado Springs, Colo., wrote dozens of letters--ridiculous, outrageous, goofy letters--to companies across the United States. Letters about his cat’s preference in catbox litter. About where M&M; really melt. About his interest, as a supposed entomologist, in working for Caterpillar Inc.

Surprisingly, many of the companies wrote back. Some got the joke and some didn’t but Rosa collected the exchanges in a book, “idiot letters,” recently published by Doubleday (paperback, $7.95). Here is one exchange, reprinted with the publisher’s permission: