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Dear Mama:
I have just written a long letter to Paula, because I thought I should, I'd been thinking about her a lot - so I'm sort of tired, and this won't be much more than a note.  But, obviously, you'll have to read Paula's letter to her, which I've mailed separately.  Actually, I'm writing you mainly to say how glad I am that you got away for awhile; and to ask you, for all our sakes, not to work too hard; and to talk to you a little about Paula's letter, so you'll have some idea of how to interpret it to her.  I don't want her to be sad, but neither do I want her to get over-excited and start making impossible plans about the future with that fabulous imagination of hers.  I just want her to know that I'm coming back, and I'm going to do my best for her.  I want her to know that.

But I have to tell you things I can't tell her - for example, [[underline]]when[[/underline]] I'm coming back.  Knopf now plans to publish the book in May, which is later than originally scheduled.  (The schedule may be changed again, it's been changed about three times already).  Now: I may come back when the book is published, but I doubt it.  For one thing, I doubt that I'll have enough money.  I don't get any money until six months after the book comes out.  If it comes out in May, then I'll be crossing the ocean in October.  Figure Fall of next year, I think that's pretty certain.

But: I do not at the moment see any possibility of my coming home to stay - I think that [[strikethrough]]xxxxxx[[/strikethrough]] remains in the fairly distant future.  It's difficult to explain, but I've a feeling that my life and my work will keep me travelling around in Europe for some time to come - I'll probably just  [[end page]]