A Perfect Day For Bananafish — JD Salinger Has Died At 91
Posted by Joe | January 28th, 2010 | 3 Comments »
The man responsible for sparking my interest in both reading and writing, Jerome David Salinger, has died. BBC News is reporting that he “died of natural causes, his son said in a statement released by his literary agent.”
I’m sure I’m not alone in wondering what kind of craziness is going to ensue from this. If you remember, Salinger hasn’t published anything since the 60s. But that doesn’t mean he had stopped writing. With the dubious stuff his children have done in the past (“Dream Catcher,” anyone?), I’m sure we’re going to see the floodgates open up and a deluge of previously unpublished work come out. Think of all the money a lot of people stand to make off this sad news.
For now, though, as we wait to see what happens next… check out my previous feature about my own personal Salinger Library including links to places on the internet where you can read his entire (published and uncollected) oeuvre.
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Tags: bbc news, catcher in the rye, death, dream catcher, j.d. salinger, jerome david salinger, literature, salinger, salinger library
February 1st, 2010 at 10:15 pm
I really loved your post “My Salinger Library”, and yes, love the bare-bones beauty of Bantam Books’ edition of Catcher in the Rye. Thanks for sharing that personal history – I could really feel how precious these books remain to you. By the way, there’s a great article on The New York Times that reveals Salinger as scarcely the recluse but rather a “townsperson” known as “Jerry” by Cornish residents. The community respected him so much that they rarely talked about him, respecting his privacy. Neighbors called this “the code of the hills”, isn’t that lovely? According to the story, he’d have lunch at Windsor Diner, use Dartmouth College’s library, and make a trip to Plainfield General Store everyday. As a writer, I too desire the carving out of my own space where I can read and write without disturbance. And Salinger sounds like an absolutely sincere, warm man living an ordinary life. I’m ending this reflection with two stanzas from Robert Creeley’s poem “Edges”, as a eulogy to Salinger: “Trees stay outside one’s thought. / The water stays stable in its shifting. / The road from here to there continues. / One is included. // Here it all is then – / as if expected, / waited for and found / again.” ~ Desmond Kon
February 2nd, 2010 at 7:36 am
Thanks a lot, Desmond. The books certainly are precious to me. It’s a tough time right now, as I weigh the options of investing in an e-reader. I know I don’t have to get rid of all the books I currently own and love, but if moving from CDs to an MP3 player is a portent for the future… well, there are dark times ahead for print.
Something you might want to look into is the short BBC documentary from 1999 called “JD Salinger Doesn’t Want to Talk.” While it does border of the side of sensationalism (a “journalist” goes to Cornish and tries to meet him), it gives you some good insight into how he lives his life and you do actually get to see Salinger’s house and life around Cornish. There are interviews with various people who knew him, Joyce Maynard and Frances Glassmoyer for two, and interviews with writers who made the pilgrimage out to get answers; ultimately, it’s exactly what you think it will be. But it’s interesting nonetheless.
Unfortunately, it’s a difficult documentary to come by. It’s not available on DVD or VHS, as it has not been released by the BBC. There is a digital copy of a VHS TV rip floating around out there, which is how I viewed the documentary; if you do a little snooping and are versed in BitTorrent you might be able to get your hands on it.
February 3rd, 2010 at 6:18 am
Thanks for the great reply, Joe. I’m in many minds about the e-reader — and yes, as a book lover myself, I too feel anxious for the longevity of print in the not-so-distant future. Again in an NYT story dated Jan 21, the article titled “Apple Courts Publishers, While Kindle Adds Apps” discusses the implications all this new technology might have on book publishing. The BBC documentary on Salinger sounds interesting. Reminds me of the one they did on Jackson Pollock which complements the Ed-Harris movie outing nicely. I heard Joyce Maynard once talk about her book at Stanford where I was taking publishing classes (a long time ago). Great insight into putting together that book. BTW, it’s nice conversing with someone in America now that I’m based back in Asia.