“Comparisons are difficult, but it seems true that with Salinger, his characters and stories are much more closely connected to his experiences than is usually the case with other writers.”, p. 30

می‌دونستم خوندنش یه جور خیانت در حق کسیه که تمام تلاشش رو کرد تا فاصله‌ش رو با دیگران حفظ کنه و خودش رو از مرکز توجه بودن بکشه کنار. کسی که ایان همیلتون رو کشید دادگاه و نذاشت زندگی‌نامه‌ای که درباره‌ش نوشته بود رو منتشر کنه. می‌دونستم اگر یک نفر توی دنیا باشه که نخواد زندگینامه‌ش نوشته و خونده بشه اون شخص خود سالینجره. با این حال، خوبی زندگی‌نامه‌ها اینه که پرن از جزئیات کوچیک پیرامون وجود کسی. و من به کشف این جزئیات درباره سالینجر نیاز داشتم، به معاشرت با او، و شناختن خالق زویی و سیمور و دیگران. امیدوارم که منو ببخشه بابت جدی گرفتن خودش، کاری که ازش متنفر بود.
این کتاب پره از اون جزییات دلخواه، و برای کسی که می‌خواد به سیر زندگی سالینجر و وقایع مهمش، ترتیب نوشته شدن و انتشار داستان‌هاش _انگار که مراحل سیر درونی او، مهم‌ترین نقد‌هایی که درباره‌ش شده، آداب و آئین‌هاش برای زیستن و نوشتن، شکل انتشار آثارش، نحوه ارتباطش با آدم‌های قشنگ و آدم‌های عوضی و... نگاه کنه تجربه خوبیه. شاید این کنجکاوی در زندگی سالینجر به خاطر تمنای ما برای تماشای بیشتر هولدن و سیمور و زویی و دیگران باشه، انگار که اگر سالینجر رو ببینیم، اونها رو دیده‌ایم در متن زندگی واقعی که می‌تونستن داشته باشن.
اما نویسنده اصرار زیادی داره که چیزهایی رو به سالینجر نسبت بده. مثل اینکه او علائق هامبرت‌گونه‌ای داره و رابطه خودش در زندگی واقعی و شخصیت‌هاش در جهان داستان با بچه‌ها لولیتاواره. رویای معصومیت و اینها هم پوششی هست بر این میل عجیب و غریب. شاهد اینکه خود ناباکوف‌ هم توجه ویژه‌ای به داستان «یک روز خوش برای موزماهی» داشته. میانگین سنی پایین زنانی که سالینجر در طول زندگی روی خوش بهشون نشون داده هم به نظر ایشان نمایانگر همین ماجراست. اصرار دیگر نویسنده روی اینه که انزواطلبی سالینجر اصلا صادقانه و خالصانه نیست. بلکه کاملا حساب شده فهمیده بهترین راه برای مشهور شدن اینه که نخواد مشهور باشه، و کاملا برنامه ریزی شده این هاله‌ افسانه‌ای رو دور خودش ساخته. یه نقشه هوشمندانه برای مشتاق کردن دیگران تا به جست و جوی او بیان، به جای اینکه خودش مستقیما زحمت جلب توجه اونها رو بکشه. هرچند که این گمانه‌ها فقط نظر نویسنده نیستن و خیلی‌ها همچین فرضیاتی درباره سالینجر دارن. اینجاست که معنای تقدیم‌نامه‌ای رو که او برای تیرهای سقف نوشته بیشتر می‌فهمم:
«اگر هنوز هم خواننده آماتوری در جهان باقی مانده است_ یا هرکسی که فقط می‌خواند و رد می‌شود_ من از او، با امتنان و مهری وصف‌ناپذیر، درخواست می‌کنم تا تقدیم‌نامه این کتاب را با همسر و فرزندان من به چهار قسمت تقسیم کند.»

I bought this out of the dollar pile somewhere. I was thinking about reading the new biography, then decided to just read this one I'd never gotten around to. It's fairly straightforward. The first two thirds tells what Salinger did and when he did it without much speculation on the whys. The latter part gets into his reclusive weirdness, which I don't guess you can ignore. We didn't get too weird--some of the bombshells recently reported in the news are unknown or ignored. There is no testicular tally. Of course it leaves us with no answers as to the motivations of Salinger's last 45 years, but that's a question we're not likely to figure out anyway.

The man who gifted the literary world "Holden Caulfield" also ensured that he remained obdurately inaccessible to the public throughout his life. While Holden Caulfield and "The Catcher In The Rye" do not seem to have any obstacles in gaining and regaining popularity, their creator seemingly seems to have gone out of his way to avoid being popular, unrelenting in his pursuit of shunning the arc lights of fame.

In this searching portrait of J.D.Salinger, one of the most influential, albeit reclusive authors of our time, Paul Alexander seeks to unravel the mystery shrouding the escape from life attitude of one of America's most loved literary giants. The outcome of such a difficult and complex endeavor is a set of plausible and searing notions that astonish and stun the reader. Getting into Salinger's head can be an extremely daunting task. Many have attempted only to fall by the way side, accumulating scorn and contempt in the process.

Alexander, displaying great subtlety and tact, proposes working around the hurdle rather than take it head on. Was Salinger's attempt at being reclusive an ulterior but genius master stroke at acquiring popularity? The means of getting at the very objective which Salinger outwardly seem to detest? Was his escaping to the quaint town of Cornish, a signaling act of building an insatiable curiosity surrounding his life amongst his fans? Or was Salinger plagued by a sexual tension as evidenced in his prepubescent as well as teen heroines ranging from Esme to Louis and from Franny to Phoebe Caulfield? Salinger's own romantic trysts with women significantly younger to him in age seems to edify this belief.

Thomas Pynchon and Don Dellilio were also reclusive. But unlike Salinger, they were absolutely lost to the searching examination of the public, whereas J.D.Salinger chose to make isolated and rare appearances, many of which were those extensively covered by the media. Salinger's love-hate relationship with his publishers and his absolute revulsion for the publishing world (which he deemed 'devious') also set him apart from the rest of his contemporaries.

The man is now physically lost to the world. Salinger died in the year 2010 choosing to leave a great part of his life swathed in mystery. However he will continue to live for ever and mesmerise us all through the thoughts, deeds and words of Holden Caulfield.

J.D.Salinger - The real Catcher In The Rye.

Not bad. "The Catcher in the Rye" is one of my all-time favourite novels...but I'm done with Salinger now...that's enough time spent reading about a man who didn't want to be read about.

As someone who loves and admires JD Salinger, I always get nervous reading something about him because I question whether or not he would have approved of it. This biography about one of the greatest enigmas in American literature doesn't dwell on the odd or the fanciful, it tells you the story about a boy from New York who went on to live his life as one of the most sought after and aloof authors to walk the earth. Thank you Mr. Alexander for portraying Jerry as a man with vices and with idiosyncrasies but also a true authors wit and heart.

Lively, engaging portrait of Salinger that spares no feelings, not even his.

As of now, this is probably the best available biography of J.D. Salinger. Paul Alexander does something that I didn't think was possible---he presents an admirable and yet even-handed portrait of a man who went out of his way to be unknowable.

True, Alexander renders a picture of a signal literary artist. He gives us in-depth analysis of Salinger's four published books, plus tantalizing explication of the stories Salinger chose to let languish in yellowing copies of the magazines in which they first appeared. He takes you right through Salinger's writing career, from his first efforts published by Whit Burnett in STORY magazine in the 1940s to his last-minute abandonment of the book publication of "Hapworth 16, 1924" in the late 1990s. You'll walk away with a new appreciation for Salinger's work and a desire to reread---like I am now---all his available work.

Beyond this, Alexander provides a fair treatment of the man himself. He shows us a vain and even combative eccentric who seemed to turn his back on a world which refused to live up to his impossibly high standards. He shows us a religious seeker who denied himself all the spoils our society has to offer in favor of spiritual rewards. We're shown someone who, repulsed by our celebrity-obsessed culture, chose a life of obscurity and the practice of literary art for art's sake. And Alexander also drops in a few juicy tidbits like, for example, the time Salinger was booted off the "Dynasty" TV set for paying an unannounced visit to his penpal, actress Catherine Oxenburg. Yes, really.

So until Alexander updates it or until Salinger's widow spills her guts, this is the place to start if you want to learn more about this great American author and individualist. Now, excuse me, I have to go finish NINE STORIES.

I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Salinger, but the author interjected perhaps a little too much conspiracy about Salinger purposely being recluse to drive up sales which of course couldn't be true given that he was so clearly unmotivated by money. Still, it was easy to read and interesting.

paul alexander is a bad person and it shows in his writing

I feel guilty for liking it.

How to write a biography of this intensely private man, recluse for decades in the lovely rural confines of New Hampshire? Make it sort of a publication history, and tweeze out whatever extraneous facts or even rumors you can find. Good job, Mr. Alexander.