Thursday, January 28, 2010

Good night Esmé

I do feel bad for JD Salinger in the photo seen at this link. By his own account he did like to write. What he didn't enjoy was being a public figure. To the extent he was able, he made the choice not to be one.

Does that mean there's a treasure trove of Salinger writing we'll finally be privy to in the coming years? Maybe. If not, he's still the creator of Holden Caulfield and the author of Nine Stories. His tab is paid in full.

3 comments:

susan said...

I too really enjoyed reading the ones he did publish. It would be interesting if there were others but not necessary. Not many people knew what he looked like as time went by and I like to think he continued living a normal life among us. Maybe not but it's saddest to imagine him spending 50 years in seclusion.

Ben said...

That's a very good point. Just about everyone thinks of him as this big recluse. For all we know, though, the deli clerk who sold him Swiss cheese every Thursday just thought of him as neighbor Jerome. That would be all right.

susan said...

Huh, there turned out to be a cool article in the NY Times about the town where he lived.