J.D. Salinger [1919-2010]
J.D. Salinger died two
days ago. I was saddened to hear this, but I think mostly because he’s everyone’s favorite recluse, and there are so few people actively avoiding fame these days.
Everyone loves Catcher in the Rye (somehow there are three copies of it in our house). In fact so many people say it is their favorite book, that when you meet someone who says that you kind of grimace and wish they thought of something more original. Of course, I loved it when I read it, too. I loved it so much that I read all of Salinger’s published works (which is all of 4 books). And I enjoyed them all.
This was about twenty years ago. There’s no reason not to read them again, frankly. But I know if I start right now I’ll seem like a goddamned phony, so I’ll put it off for a little while.
It’s hard to be terribly sad that the man’s dead (from a reader’s point of view, that is). I mean, he hadn’t written anything in over 40 years as far as we know. But still, it’s always sad to hear news like that.
Raise High the Roofbeam.
I Just Read About That... 
I’ve actually never read it. The dog told me not to.
I might actually now… I think that was his plan all along — dying to get me to read it. Smart marketing on his part.