84, CHARING CROSS ROAD

An exchange of letters, all through the '40's and '50's, between Miss Hanff and Marks & Co., Booksellers, 84 Charing Cross Road (London of course) and much of its charm depends on whether you respond to Miss Hanff. She's one of those instantly informal types--send me ""just a nice book small enough to stick in a slacks pocket and take to Central Park""--or it might be the Bible or the Canterbury Tales. During the austerity she sends food packages; in time her correspondents at 84, Chafing Cross Road become more familiar--particularly one Frank Doel who dies at the end. . . . As a book it's not much more than a bibelot--casual squiggles with a little space for sentiment between the lines.