Feature Articles

J.D. Salinger (1919-2010) – an appreciation
By Brian Kennedy, PDS Bibliographer


There’s nothing quite like being unimpressed by the sublime. Imagine showing up at the Louvre and finding the Mona Lisa simply too small for your tastes, the room too crowded. You feel like a Philistine, bewildered by all the fuss, and end up mildly annoyed and disgruntled, wondering if the snack bar is open yet.

Such was my experience with The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger’s popularly acknowledged masterpiece of adolescent alienation and ennui. Reading it at the tender age of fifteen my nonplussed reaction was, quite simply, “That’s it?” I felt Salinger’s story of a rebellious young man wandering the streets of New York City at mid-century had precious little to offer a young reader in rural New Hampshire fifty years later, especially when that same reader had already found Holden Caulfield’s perpetual battle against phoniness and conformity to be the new-and-ever-so-tiresome norm.

In the years since, I’ve grown wary of admitting I don’t like the novel. The wariness arises not from my dislike itself, but from the book’s exalted status in the memories of so many people, some of whom enjoy it with an intensity beyond all reason. Indeed, it’s not so much enjoyed as it is venerated, like the relic of a saint, and its merits defended with all the zeal of a solemnly-sworn crusader. Though I’ve never run from a confrontation on the subject, I do know that if I express my true opinion of The Catcher in the Rye I’m likely in for a long, impassioned conversation. It’s the same reaction I get when I tell people I’ve never liked Simon and Garfunkel, or when my wife admits she doesn’t like corn on the cob or fruit pies. There’s something about these tastes that certain persons find mystifying.

With Salinger’s death in late January at the age of 91, I expected my skirmishes to begin anew. A colleague, walking past my cubicle on the way to the printer, noticed Salinger’s books stacked on my desk and stopped to talk. She asked what I thought of him, and I hesitantly gave my opinion, steeling myself against a potential onslaught.

But instead of lecturing me on the merits of his work, she cheerily suggested I read the short story “Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes” from his collection Nine Stories. Intrigued by her recommendation (and grateful for not being yelled at), I did. I was not disappointed. Indeed, quite pleasantly surprised.

A tiny gem of a story detailing a pair of late-night drunken phone calls between two colleagues, it offers an uncomfortable depiction of loneliness and shame, with an unexpected ending that left me with my stomach in knots, but shaking my head in admiration.

Rarely have I read a short story in which the characters are sketched with such precision, and with such a faithful adherence to the real sounds and rhythms of everyday speech, the real emotional turmoil of daily living.

It is the sort of story to be praised and studied, a story for which a writer could fondly and rightly be remembered.

You must read it.

Below you will find a list of titles by or about J.D. Salinger. For your convenience, this list is also available in MS Excel format here.

AT HOME IN THE WORLD; A MEMOIR.

• AUTHOR: MAYNARD, JOYCE
• PUBLISHER: PICADOR USA ST MARTIN'S
• CONTENT LEVEL: GEN-AC
• LC CLASS: PS3563.A9638 Z47 1998
• $14.00 PAPER 347 P.
• ISBN: 9780312202293
• B&T   •    YBP

• AUTHOR: SALINGER, J.D
• PUBLISHER: LITTLE BROWN
• CONTENT LEVEL: GEN-AC
• LC CLASS: PS3637 .A426 C3 1951
• $25.99 CLOTH 277 P.
• ISBN: 9780316769532
• B&T   •    YBP

• AUTHOR: SALINGER, J.D
• PUBLISHER: LITTLE, BROWN
• CONTENT LEVEL: GEN-AC
• LC CLASS: PS3537.A426 F7 1961
• $25.95 CLOTH 201 P.
• ISBN: 9780316769549
• B&T   •    YBP

• AUTHOR: CHRIS KUBICA
• PUBLISHER: UNIV OF WISCONSIN PRESS
• CONTENT LEVEL: GEN-AC
• LC CLASS: PS3537.A426Z48 2002
• $24.95 CLOTH 250 P.
• ISBN: 9780299178000
• B&T   •    YBP

• AUTHOR: SALINGER, J.D
• PUBLISHER: LITTLE, BROWN & COMPANY
• CONTENT LEVEL: GEN-AC
• LC CLASS: PS3537.A426 N5 1953
• $25.99 CLOTH 302 P.
• ISBN: 9780316769563
• B&T   •    YBP

• AUTHOR: SALINGER, J. D
• PUBLISHER: LITTLE BROWN
• CONTENT LEVEL: GEN-AC
• LC CLASS: PS3537.A426 R3
• $24.95 CLOTH 248 P.
• ISBN: 9780316769570
• B&T   •    YBP