A Letter to the Reader

Dear Reader,

                Creating this multi-genre research project has been somewhat bittersweet for me. The sweet has come with the fact that I am writing about one of my personal heroes- Jerome David Salinger (January 1 1919 – January 27, 2010), better known to the world as J.D. Salinger, the reclusive author of The Catcher in the Rye.

The bitter is knowing that Salinger would have hated what I am doing. Salinger, who retreated from the public eye and began living a notably private life in 1953, valued his privacy to put it mildly (Alexander 26). As his biographer, Paul Alexander, wrote: “Almost all writers play by the rules of the game. . .because they want to stay in the good graces of the publishers, the people who make the rules—but, in a career that has spanned over half a century, J.D. Salinger has refused to comply with even the most basic of these rules” (24).

             
             Unlike most other writers, Salinger did not attend book signings or huge press conferences. He once taught a class at Sarah Lawrence, and that was the extent of his public appearances, literally. Salinger never sat down to an official interview. Soon after his first book was off the presses, he demanded that his photo no longer appear on the jacket. Salinger always asked his managers and agents to throw away all fan mail he received. He even went so far as to request that future editions of his books feature only his words and plain text, nothing else. Perhaps most unfortunately of all, Salinger ceased publishing his work altogether in 1965 (Alexander 24-5).

              

             It is undeniably Salinger’s idiosyncrasies that fascinate me, and I’d venture to guess the rest of the world, almost as much as his beautiful, soul-searing writing. I wonder why he went into seclusion, what made him shy away from his fans, from the world around him. These are questions that I’ll never have complete answers to. I can, however, speculate based on my research and on who I believe Salinger to be in my heart, and that is what I’ve tried to do with this project. I’ve attempted to mingle fact and fiction, to give you a glimpse into the man that Salinger was in his early years and the writer he eventually became. We will start near the end, taking a brief glimpse at Salinger’s life as a recluse, before jumping to the beginning, when a young boy dreamed of becoming a famous writer, and piecing together the events leading up to his decision to move into a tiny house in Cornish, New Hampshire and cut off all contact from the rest of the world. I can only hope that he understands or, at the very least, would forgive me for my intrusion.

Before and After

Famous: A Double Voice Poem Between the Young, Unpublished J.D. Salinger and the J.D. Salinger who chose to become a recluse in 1953.

Outside Salinger's House, 1994

Back to the Beginning

 

A Mediocre Student at Best

Salinger at Columbia University (1938)

Professor Whit Burnett: Mr. Salinger, I’ve called you into my office, because I don’t understand why you’re here.

Salinger: What do you mean?

Whit: You’ve signed up for my class, and I understand it’s not for credit, but I feel like you’re wasting my time and yours.You don’t take notes during class. You don’t even appear to be listening. All you do is stare out the window. Why are you here?

Salinger: I want to- no I need to – learn to write.

Whit: Then you must try harder. You must make an effort.

Salinger: I’m sorry. I know I appear lazy and shut-off but I’m not. I have these…psychological issues. I don’t even understand them. But I, I want to write

Whit: You do have potential, you know, based on what I’ve read. If you would just commit yourself, you could make it in this business. Start applying yourself. Submit something to my literary magazine. It's a start. We’ll go from there.

Salinger: I will, Sir. Thank you

First Publication

STORY

Dear Mr. Salinger,

     We are pleased to inform you that we would like to publish your short story, “The Young Folks,” in Story magazine. Upon your acceptance, we will pay $25 for first North American publishing rights. Your story will appear in the issue to be released February 16, 1940. Please notify us of your acceptance or refusal. If you accept, please be so kind as to include a brief biography for the contributors’ notes.

Sincerely,

Whit Burnett

Editor

Dear Mr. Burnett,

      Wow, you really meant it! It is an honor to have my story published in your magazine. Here is my biography for the contributors’ notes:

J.D. Salinger, who is twenty-one years old, was born in New York. He attended public grammar schools, one military academy, and three colleges, and has spent one year in Europe. He is particularly interested in playwriting.

Sincerely,

Jerome David Salinger

From Boy to Troubled Man

Just one year after Salinger published his first short story, he had already had much success in the publishing world. His dream, however, was to publish a piece in the renowned New Yorker. He submitted a short story entitled “Slight Rebellion off Madison,” which featured the character Holden Caulfield, to the magazine in 1941. Though it was accepted, it was ultimately not published due to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The editors felt publishing a story about a jaded, cynical boy who had everything was not appropriate in light of the current problems of the nation (Alexander 76-7). 

Soon after, Salinger applied to become an army volunteer. He had always been willing to serve, but a heart condition made him ineligible.  His condition was eventually overlooked due to modifications to the enlistment requirements, and Salinger was admitted to the Officers, First Sergeants, and Instructors School of the Signal Corps in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey on April 27, 1942 (Alexander 79-80).

After many transfers and relocations, writing all the while and meeting with some success, Salinger entered into actual battle on D-day—June 6, 1944 (Salinger 40-1). His experiences would leave him forever changed. Biographer Paul Alexander writes that Salinger’s division “suffered some two thousand casualties a month,” and that Salinger’s division endured and witnessed some of the most savage and bloody battles fought in World War II (100-101). 

His experience was one that would send him on a quest for peace and answers. He would consider becoming a monk (Salinger 11) and would dabble in Zen Buddhism, Vedanta Hinduism, Yogananda’s Self-Realization Church, Christian Science, Scientology, macrobiotics, and more (Salinger 96). His future wife, Claire, would later describe him in the years after the war as having “black holes where he could hardly move, barely talk” (Salinger 12).

Today, we call it Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Nurnberg Psychiatric Hospital

Patient Name: Salinger, Jerome David                               

Date of Admission: May 21, 1945

Reason(s) for admission: difficulty sleeping (night terrors); high levels of stress and anxiety; overwhelming feelings of guilt and depression; irritability; occasional angry outbursts.

Diagnosis: Battle fatigue

Note: Psychiatric discharge was advised, but patient strongly opposed it. Compromise of three weeks rest/recuperation reached. Patient to be admitted back to full duties with close supervision.

How Salinger Felt

Depression is a musty blanket

just removed from a dark and humid attic,

the dust not yet shaken off.

It’s easy to curl up with it,

to get lost in its warm folds.

To be fooled into thinking

it’s inviting.

And then it swallows you up,

stifles the life from your body

until you don’t even have the energy

to sneeze. 

Family Photos

Salinger married Claire Douglas in 1955, four years after publishing The Catcher in the Rye and two years after moving into his home in Cornish (French 1013). This was Salinger's second marriage. He was briefly married to Sylvia Salinger during the war. It was a short and intense marriage (Salinger 71).

In 1956, Salinger's daughter, Margaret Ann, was born (French 1013).

In 1960, Salinger's son, Matthew was born. Salinger would remain married to Claire until she divorced him in 1967 (French 1013).

And we end our journey with a view of the home where Salinger lived, quite alone, until his death in 2010.

End Notes

*Before and After. The Double Voice Poem, “Famous,” was crafted from the details of Salinger’s early life, before he began writing, which I read bits and pieces of in all of my sources. I was particularly impacted by Salinger’s words to a friend during his college years. He said, “I’ve got to be a writer. Charlie, I have to be a writer. I have to” (Alexander 52). I was struck by how obviously passionate the young Salinger was about the work he had to share and how eager he was to publish it for the rest of the world to see –and what a contrast that was to the Salinger who retreated from the public eye and, some might say, from life itself.

 *Outside Salinger’s House, 1994. I created this sign based on the many like it that biographer Paul Alexander noted seeing on Salinger’s property in Cornish, New Hampshire that year (20).

*Back to the beginning. I created this newspaper birth announcement mainly to highlight one detail I found interesting: that Salinger was born into a conflicted family. His father, Sol, was Jewish and the son of a Rabbi, and his mother, whom Sol married against his parents’ wishes, was Christian. She changed her name to sound “more Jewish” shortly before marrying Salinger’s father (Salinger 20).

*A Mediocre Student at Best. I created the report card using Salinger’s actual grades from the McBurney School. The grader’s end comment was paraphrased from a comment made by a teacher on Salinger’s transcript after he was asked not to return to the school (Alexander 38).

*Salinger at Columbia University. This was based on Salinger’s interactions and experiences with his mentor and writing teacher, Whit Burnett. Burnett would later publish Salinger’s first story, “The Young Folks,” in his literary magazine, Story. Salinger was paid $25 for the piece (Alexander 56-8).

*First Publication. The brief biography included in the letter is the actual biography that appeared in Story magazine (Alexander 58-9). 

*Today, We Call it Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Though Salinger’s symptoms are made up and the date of admission and name of the hospital are educated guesses, it is true that Salinger received a diagnosis of “battle fatigue,” and fought to return back to battle (Salinger 67).

*How Salinger Felt. While working on the Catcher in the Rye, Salinger's mother described him as living in an apartment that was "dark and underwater-feeling, with black sheets and black furniture that seemed to match his depression" (Salinger 75). That quote inspired my poem.

*Family Photos:

Photo of Claire Salinger:

http://douglashistory.ning.com/profiles/blogs/jd-salinger-dies-the-douglas

Photo of Margaret Salinger and J.D.:

http://donkeyod.wordpress.com/2007/01/01/happy-birthday-jd-salinger/

Photo of “Matthew Salinger,” is actually photo of a young J.D.:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:J._D._Salinger_as_a_child.jpg

Photo of Salinger’s home:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/apr/03/jd-salinger-reporter

Bibliography

Alexander, P. (1999). Salinger: A Biography. Los Angeles: Renaissance Books.

French, W. (1985). “J.D. Salinger.” Research Guide to Biography and Criticism, 2. 1013-1015.

Hamilton, I. (1988). In Search of J.D. Salinger. New York: Random House.

Mueller, B. (2011). Critical Companion to J.D. Salinger: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts on File.

Salinger, M. (2000). Dream Catcher: A Memoir. New York: Pocket Books.

Slawenski, K. (2010). J.D. Salinger: A Life. New York: Random House.