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Title: With Love and Squalor: 14 Writers Respond to the Work of J.D. Salinger by Kip Kotzen, Thomas Beller ISBN: 0-7679-0799-X Publisher: Broadway Pub. Date: 16 October, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.4 (5 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Impossible not to love it
Comment: This is one of the best books I've read about a writer. Each of the 14 articles gives us a different point of view on old J.D., and all of them come up with great insights.
My favorite is "Salinger and Sobs", written by Charles D'Ambrosio (we're sure going to hear this name a lot). This article is very sensitive and really touching. I think the guy understood Salinger - and Holden Caulfield - very deeply.
"The Salinger Weather", by Thomas Beller, is also fascinating. Take a look at this quote: "... there is the fear I have that if you're a Salinger fan, if you are living in the Salinger Weather, you can never have a relationship with another person. I mean a developed, adult, love-type relationship." He hit the mark! And that makes us think a lot.
Well, I had a lot of fun with "Good-bye, Holden Caulfield. I Mean It. Go! Go!", by Walter Kirn.
When it comes to the "with squalor" part of the book, Emma Forrest's piece is very charming. She says that Salinger quit publishing because he sort of knew he could not be one of the greatest world's writers, because he knew he was not so good as people would expect after "Catcher". That sounded like a challenge. And it is a shame that J.D. didn't take it on.
Anyway, if you're a Salinger freak, or if you just like a great reading, this book is indispensable.
Rating: 3
Summary: Revisting Holden & the Glass Gang
Comment: It was a pleasure to see a book published about J.D. Salinger's writing as opposed to a tell-all about the famous recluse. The editors sent the call out to young (or youngish) writers for their take on JDS.
Essays by Walter Kirn and Renee Steinke were delightful views of meeting up with Holden Caulfield from an entirely different background than the New York, prep, affluent Salinger character. Mr. Kirn hails from a small town in MN and thought of Holden as a dashing sophisticated fellow while Ms. Steinke is a preacher's daughter from Friendswood, TX and saw Holden as a fellow outsider. These were fond and enlightening essays that showed "Catcher in the Rye" was without boundaries.
Lucinda Rosenfeld's "The Trouble With Franny" takes an in-depth look at Franny Glass and how perceptions change when rereading as an adult. John McNally does an excellent job in discussing and illustrating the minor characters in JDS's work and how perfect the brevity and broad brush make even once-mentioned characters memorable. Co-editor Thomas Beller made me think about what it's like to live in "Salinger Weather," a closely reasoned, brilliant piece written with brio! Jane Mendelsohn has an achingly sensitive article, "Holden Caulfield: A Love Story," about how her first take on Holden was a romantic crush, but deepened into a bemused love as she gradually saw the tragedy and despair of Holden.
According to the Introduction, the writers were given carte blanche. Herein lies a problem. Some of the essayists took this to mean a great deal of talk about themselves with the merest nod to J. D. Salinger. One contribution was a fairish "New Yorker" type short story that had the heroine carrying a copy of "Franny & Zooey" as the sole link that I could see to the author. Another most unpleasant young lady was very proud of being young (a temporary condition at best), and allowed as to how she might give Holden a go.
As all the writers are professionals, I was unhappy with the amount of self-indulgence displayed in some (but not all) of the articles. Almost all of the writers were introduced to Salinger as required reading in the 8th or 9th grade. Perhaps that is part of the problem. Discovery by oneself is a much more powerful way to meet a new author, and your insights are your own.
The five excellent essays and a couple more I would rate as good workmanlike jobs make "With Love and Squalor" a good choice for a true Salinger lover.
Rating: 5
Summary: Influence
Comment: This is an excellent survey of the influence(or lack there of in some cases) that J. D. Salinger has exercised over the literary world. Each essay is written by a contemporary writer who details his/her experience with Salinger and his work. All of the essays are very interesting and well done.
However, the essays in the book raise another question, the answer to which isn't found within the essays. What is the influence of Salinger on ordinary people? Is there any or has he had very little influence beyond the writing community. Has the experience of ordinary readers been similar to or totally different from the essay writers? Almost all high school and college students are required to read The Catcher in the Rye and somtimes Salinger's other works, this is where most of the essay writers became acquainted with him. Yet none of the writers attempt to really go beyond their own experience to examine that bigger question. That is too bad, the book would have been even more interesting had some attempt been made to examine this question. Maybe there needs to be a sequel that explores it.
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Title: Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger ISBN: 0316769509 Publisher: Little Brown & Company Pub. Date: 01 May, 1991 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Salinger : A Biography by Paul Alexander ISBN: 1580631487 Publisher: Renaissance Books Pub. Date: 14 July, 2000 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Letters to J. D. Salinger by Chris Kubica, Will Hochman ISBN: 0299178005 Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press Pub. Date: 28 March, 2002 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: New Essays on The Catcher in the Rye by Jack Salzman ISBN: 0521377986 Publisher: Cambridge Univ Pr (Pap Txt) Pub. Date: 28 February, 1992 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction by J. D. Salinger ISBN: 0316769517 Publisher: Little Brown & Company Pub. Date: 01 May, 1991 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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