Salinger Dead

I noted this morning that news of J.D. Salinger's death had hit the airwaves (age 91). Salinger was an anomaly among novelists in that, he achieved his out-of-the-gate success at age twenty, publishing The Catcher in the Rye, and then, basically, became a recluse for the rest of his life. I don't think he ever gave an interview, never appeared on television or radio, and yet his first and only novel sold millions of copies (again bringing into question my observation that first novels don't sell).

This afternoon, I went in search of my copy of The Catcher in the Rye--a book that I had read while in my twenties--and I finally discovered my hardback copy of the book, and in a rather pristine condition at that, lurking on the second shelf of the bookcase in my wife's office. I note by the copyright that Salinger published this "coming-of-age" novel in 1951--a story about a foul-mouthed kid named Holden Caulfield who runs away from his high-brow prep school for a three day junket in New York city. (Wow, was Ferris Buehler's Day Off influenced by this book?)

Finding The Catcher in the Rye again (and holding it my lap as I write this blog) also provoked another memory of a second Salinger book that I had purchased some years back, and I located this collection of Salinger's New Yorker stories (Nine Stories) in a tiny paperback edition just behind my desk. Guess my memory isn't too bad yet. I can't recall my wife's name most days, but I can still locate titles among the mounds of three-deep books scattered all around me. Now, if I could only remember my daughter's name--I have to pick her up at that university up north on Friday morning (what's her name?).

I'm not sure what to make of Salinger, really. He was a perfect example of a writer who wrote sparingly, but with enormous acclaim and financial success. His first and only novel became a cult classic and his protagonist, Holden Caulfield, an American icon. (I once won a game of Trivial Pursuit by answering the question: "Name the protagonist in J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye.") Now, I guess I'll have to reread it after all these years . . . and I'm certain that, with Salinger's passing, copies of this novel will shoot up the Amazon.com best-seller list--watch for it!

Finally, Salinger's reclusive nature is more akin to my own desires when it comes to writing, too. I hate doing book signings and appearances. I hate doing trade shows and such. But marketing and promotion is very much a part of the scheme of things these days. Still, I'd much rather just sit at home and write something else.

Or, in Salinger's case, I guess he just sat at home and told his adoring public to "get off the lawn!"