A memoir of the year a young aspiring writer spent working at J. D. Salinger's staid literary agency in the 1990s, typing responses to his fan mail on a Selectric typewriter and slowly discovering both his novels and her own ambitions.
Books mentioned in My Salinger Year (27)
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger: “Books so ubiquitous on the contemporary bookshelf I barely noticed them: The Catcher in the Rye, Franny and Zooey, Nine Stories.”
Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger: “Books so ubiquitous on the contemporary bookshelf I barely noticed them: The Catcher in the Rye, Franny and Zooey, Nine Stories.”
Nine Stories by J. D. Salinger: “Books so ubiquitous on the contemporary bookshelf I barely noticed them: The Catcher in the Rye, Franny and Zooey, Nine Stories.”
Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters by J. D. Salinger: “The Catcher in the Rye, Nine Stories, Franny and Zooey, Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour—an Introduction.”
Seymour: An Introduction by J. D. Salinger: “I did not know then, would not know for months and months—when I finally read "Seymour—an Introduction"—that Salinger equated poetry with spirituality.”
Teddy by J. D. Salinger: “Equally harmless were editors of textbooks and anthologies, guilelessly hoping to include "Teddy" in their collection of stories on marriage and divorce or an excerpt from Catcher in the new edition of The Norton Anthology of American Literature.”
A Perfect Day for Bananafish by J. D. Salinger: “Even the names of the stories seemed juvenile and too clever-clever: "A Perfect Day for Bananafish." "Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut." I didn't want to be entertained.”
Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut by J. D. Salinger: “Even the names of the stories seemed juvenile and too clever-clever: "A Perfect Day for Bananafish." "Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut." I didn't want to be entertained.”
De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period by J. D. Salinger: “My whole life seemed to have narrowed down to Salinger, Salinger, Salinger, in this case a line from "De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period." The narrator of the story, a teacher at a correspondence-based art school, writes a letter to his one talented pupil...”
For Esmé—with Love and Squalor by J. D. Salinger: “Apparently, Jerry had been horrified by the quality of the British paperback of Nine Stories—called For Esmé—with Love and Squalor, and Other Stories in the U.K.—so horrified that he'd raised a huge fuss and broken with his longtime publisher.”
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens: “"Oliver Twist—" "This isn't Oliver Twist," she informed me, with a mirthless laugh.”
Persuasion by Jane Austen: “An hour later, as the sky darkened and the city emptied for the holiday, I lay on the couch rereading Persuasion, hoping I'd never have to put that suit back on again.”
Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie: “I was close enough to the glass now to make out some of the titles: a beautiful, ornate copy of Don Juan; an oversized edition of Peter Pan with what appeared to be the original illustrations; the moss-green binding of Alice in Wonderland.”
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: “So if I want to write a book and call it The Great Gatsby, I can.”
Don Juan by George Gordon Byron: “I was close enough to the glass now to make out some of the titles: a beautiful, ornate copy of Don Juan; an oversized edition of Peter Pan with what appeared to be the original illustrations...”
Freckle Juice by Judy Blume: “Dutifully, I gathered copies of Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Freckle Juice, Blubber, Forever …, and my favorite, Starring Sally J.”
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume: “Dutifully, I gathered copies of Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Freckle Juice, Blubber, Forever …, and my favorite, Starring Sally J.”
Family Happiness by Laurie Colwin: “"Really?" I said, keeping my eyes on my book, Laurie Colwin's Family Happiness, in which an Upper East Side matron discovers her family's equilibrium depends on her maintaining her long-running affair.”
London Fields by Martin Amis: “I put on water for pasta and grabbed a book off his desk—Martin Amis's London Fields, which I'd taken out of the library the previous week, only to have Don claim it.”
In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust: “...listening to Arlo Guthrie and reading the third volume of Remembrance of Things Past, which he'd informed me was properly called In Search of Lost Time.”
Our Town by Thornton Wilder: “He was trying for cheer, for bonhomie, which gave him the aspect of an actor in a community theater production of Our Town.”
The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot: “...defined by my professors and the sophisticated friends I acquired in college, the ones who'd graduated from private schools that offered semester-long classes focused exclusively on The Waste Land or the works of Beckett.”
The Group by Mary McCarthy: “...its walls painted black, like that of the filthy communist couple in Mary McCarthy's The Group.”
Girl with Curious Hair by David Foster Wallace: “...had picked up a used copy of Girl with Curious Hair at the Strand for a few dollars, hiding it from Don, who was scornful of all purchases.”
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll: “an oversized edition of Peter Pan with what appeared to be the original illustrations; the moss-green binding of Alice in Wonderland.”