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About
The Author Excerpt:
J.D. Salinger
Perhaps
no author has garnered more attention for so few published books
than J. D. Salinger. His first novel, The Catcher in the Rye (1951),
quickly became a classic, particularly with younger readers, and
it is one of the most popular "serious" novels to be published
after World War II. Salinger won high praise for his deft handling
of teenage slang and speech patterns. The narrator of the novel,
Holden Caulfield, who declares war on all that is "phony,"
is one of the most enduring characters in the history of literature.
After
the publication of Catcher, however, Salinger chose to live the
life of a recluse, continuing to write but publishing his work sparingly.
His later work raised questions as to whether he had matured enough
as a writer to warrant all the attention he was receiving. Several
of his stories appeared in the New Yorker and were subsequently
published in book form: Franny and Zooey (1961) and Raise High the
Roof Beam, Carpenters, and Seymour: An Introduction (1963). A novella-length
story written in the form of a letter, Hapworth 16, 1924, was first
published in the New Yorker in 1965 and issued as a book in 2000.
Many
of these stories focus on the fictional Glass family, leading some
critics to declare that all of these stories, when put together,
comprise a short-story cycle. But Salinger has refused to participate
in the debate over his work. He gives no lectures or readings, and
rarely does he grant interviews.
Good
to Know
-
Salinger used Valley Forge Military Academy as the model for Pencey
Prep in The Catcher in the Rye. It was at Valley Forge that he
began to write fiction, often by flashlight under his blankets
after "lights out."
- While at Columbia in 1939, Salinger attended a class on short-story
writing. A year later he published his first story, "The
Young Folks," in Story magazine, founded and edited by his
Columbia professor, Whit Burnett. In an unpublished letter to
a friend who had congratulated him on this first publication,
Salinger replied: "I have of course an ardent admirer in
myself, but mostly when I'm at work. When I'm finished with a
piece, I'm embarrassed to look at it again, as though I were afraid
I hadn't wiped its nose clean."
- Salinger served in the army in Europe during World War II. He
eventually became staff sergeant and received five battle stars.
But he also continued to write, using a portable typewriter. He
witnessed heavy combat and was once hospitalized for combat-related
stress, an experience that inspired his story "For Esme-with
Love and Squalor."
- When The Catcher in the Rye was chosen as the main selection
of the Book-of-the-Month Club in 1951, the club's president expressed
anxiety over the book's somewhat ambiguous title. When asked if
he would consider a change, Salinger simply replied, "Holden
Caulfield wouldn't like that." (The name "Holden Caulfield"
most likely came from joining the first name of a boyhood friend
with the last name of movie actress Joan Caulfield, on whom Salinger
once had a crush.)
- In 1974 Salinger tried everything-including the use of lawyers
and the FBI-to prevent the publication of his earliest stories
in book form. Despite his efforts, some 25,000 copies found their
way into public hands. The books were peddled to bookstores at
$1.50 each by different men who always introduced themselves as
"John Greenberg" and claimed to come from Berkeley,
California.
- People close to Salinger say that he does his writing in a
tiny concrete bunker on his New Hampshire property and has at
least two complete manuscripts stored in a vault there. He gets
up most days at the crack of dawn, walks down the hill to the
bunker, and spends 15 or 16 hours at his typewriter. Later, he
may watch a movie from his vast collection of 1940s videos.
Treatises and Treats
Companions
Salinger:
A Biography by Paul Alexander
(Renaissance Books, 1999). The first full-length popular account
of the famously private Salinger's entire life and career, based
on published sources and interviews with some 40 literary figures
(George Plimpton, Gay Talese, and Tom Wolfe, among others).
In
Search of J. D. Salinger by Ian Hamilton (Random House, 1989).
This biography confines itself to the author's life from 1919 to
1965, the year that he published his last New Yorker story. The
book's planned release led to a court battle between Hamilton and
Salinger, who declared that his letters could not be quoted without
his permission.
At
Home in the World by Joyce Maynard (Picador, 1998). The centerpiece
of this memoir is Maynard's account of her highly publicized yearlong
relationship with Salinger.
The
Dream Catcher by Margaret Salinger (Pocket Books, 2000). Another
memoir, written by Salinger's daughter, about her childhood and
relationship with her father.
Best
of the Net
Salinger.org
www.salinger.org/
A good fan-created Web site, with information on Salinger's fictional
characters, bibliography, critical commentary, anecdotes, articles,
and news.
New York Times Featured Authors
www.nytimes.com/books/specials/author.html
Click on "J. D. Salinger" for a collection of book reviews
and articles from the New York Times archives.
Reading List
All
the Books
The Catcher in the Rye, 1951
Nine Stories, 1953
Franny and Zooey, 1961
Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters, and
Seymour: An Introduction, 1963
The Complete Uncollected Stories of J. D.
Salinger, 1974 (unauthorized edition)
Hapworth 16, 1924, 2000
If
You Like
J.D. Salinger…
Try these classic "growing-up" stories: Angela Carter's The Magic
Toyshop, Roddy Doyle's The Commitments, John Knowles's A Separate
Peace, C. D. Payne's Youth in Revolt, Philip Roth's Portnoy's Complaint,
and Anne Tyler's Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant.
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