J. D. Salinger
By Warren French
Kansas State University
College and University press
Paperback Division
New Haven, Connecticut
Publisher’s note
About the book – J. D. Salinger is a great reporter. He has the uncanny ability to reproduce in the language of the teen-ager and city-dweller the shortcomings of our neurotic urban civilization- the “phony”world. As long as Salinger satirizes our shabby pretensions in a novel like The Catcher in the Rye, French joins with those who maintain he is a great writter. “However”, French states, “turned seer, Salinger sounds remarkable like the very Beatniks he has his ‘alter ego’ Buddhy Glass denounce. He has a remarkable keen perception of what ails our world, but no idea what to do about it. The deeper I get mired in the Glass saga, the more I wish Salinger had stuck to doing what he did well”. Although this book does not assess Salinger’s permanent worth, It does try to determine why American youth is so uniquely enthusiastic about Salinger’s fiction.
CONTENTS
Chapter
Chronology
Notes and References
Selected Bibliography
Index