The late great Donald Westlake signed letters (and emails) “Onward.” This wonderfully opaque valediction leaves altogether unclear the writer’s own sentiments toward the addressee or the character of his relationship to the correspondent. What does “Onward” really mean? Presumably we all go onward whether we wish to or not. We move onward in whatever direction fate or providence takes us, whatever our plans and preferences.

Still, doesn’t “Onward” convey some sense of hope? Doesn’t it seem to suggest an openness to the future, tending even towards a guarded optimism, though combined perhaps with a touch of cheerful fatalism about one’s ability really to shape it?