There is this correspondence between an author and his publisher - the
author writes a letter containing only a question mark and the
publisher answers with an exclamation mark - I always though this was
Proust, but I have searched in vain

Hi digiphernalia,

Thanks for the question, and here's your answer.

It was Victor Hugo.

"The shortest correspondence on record was between this author and his
publisher Hurst & Blackett in 1862.The author was anxious to know how
his new novel was doing.He wrote '?' and got '!' for the answer."
Quiz #156 - Vinod
http://www.kcircle.com/index.html?q156a

The novel in question is, of course, Les Misérables, and you can read
it in its entirety (all 365 chapters) at this fully searchable
website.
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo: A searchable on-line version at The ...
http://www.online-literature.com/victor_hugo/les_miserables/

Happy reading!

Regards,
revbrenda

Search strategy:

shortest correspondence between an author and his publisher
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