Josh lives surrounded by stacks of newspapers. He meets his illegitimate half-sister Carol because of their famous author father's passing. Josh, despite his writer father was slow to learn to read, and kept newspapers as a reassurance of his literacy. He reluctantly lets Carol stay in his apartment, for which she repays him with the unwitting violation of clearing out all the newspapers. Carol, who is jealous of what she assumes to be intimacy between Josh and their father, discloses that she has received a great abundance of letters from him over the years, which leads us to the title of the play. Josh, who was in truth always distant from Dad, explains to Carol that her inheritance is in the value of these "unpublished letters".

An aging stage actress gets a surprise visit in her dressing room from a theater critic and former fan.