The Real Juliet Letters

I happened upon this article in the NYT about ongoing correspondance between (actual) lovelorn souls and Shakespeare's (fictional) Juliet. It turns out that an entire Veronese club is in place to answer these letters and a book chronicling this phenomena is forthcoming.

This should sound familiar for Costellophiles, as this correspondance inspired his 1993 album with the Brodsky Quartet The Juliet Letters. I enjoy a few tunes on the album but find it to be among his lesser work (funny how most EC collabos end up that way). Apparently Rhino Records thought so too; they have officially completed their overhaul of Costello's catalogue with the two-disc reissue of this album (released last week), the last in the series and seemingly done for completions' sake. I won't be rushing out to buy it, but it is noteworthy for the inclusion of the live versions of "God Only Knows" and Tom Waits' "More Than Rain" culled from a radio-only EP (one I borrowed from KSLU and subsequently lost).

ps-if you can't make out the handwriting, the note above says:
"Dear Giulietta! pray for me. I am in love with a guy who is quite serious about marriage but not in the near future. Help me! - Chris"

I'm still waiting for a reply, Ms. Capulet.