The omnibus contains this and four more of her non-fiction works. They describe a tour of New York ("Apple of My Eye"), her career trying to "crash the theatre" ("Underfoot in Show Business"), a visit to London ("The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street") and her self-education in English literarure ("Q's Legacy").

The great joy to me of Hanff is her style. She is wonderfully conversational, humorous and self-depreciating. She describes her life - taking a picnic on "Dog Hill" in Central Park or searching for out-of-print books, with panache. There is also precision and candour,

"I had as much poise as any young girl who's never been anywhere or done anything and most of the time isn't exactly sure who she is."

And yet we are aware of a grittier Manhattan side to her, as a London waiter boggles over the amount of gin she wants to take in her martini.

Perhaps it is best to typify her books as ceaseless quests with which we are infectiously swept along. The Times said of "84 Charing Cross Road" that, "seldom has a writer sailed to fame on so slender a craft". This volume shows that not only was her fame richly deserved but her work amounts to something of an opus.

Reading about NY in the aftermath of 9/11 I wished that Helene Hanff - infinitely wise and compassionate - were here to tell me how to feel.