J.D. Salinger: The Escape Artist and My Salinger Year prove that the man's desire to be left alone may forever frustrate our efforts to know who he truly was.
Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood has been referred to as the "Japanese Catcher in the Rye", but J. D. Salinger said that his book was not actable and he would never sell the rights to Hollywood. Maybe Murakami should have listened to Salinger.
I’m not certain if it says more about J.D. Salinger, Jethro Tull or me, that when I think of the ultimate coming-of-age treatise from the trenches, it’s not a novel but a trio of albums.
'Catcher in the Rye' is a great novel, but it’s not good. When you're more Ferris Bueller than Holden Caulfield, it's hard to relate to his alienation -- no matter how much teachers want you to.
Seymour is the presence you are sure you encountered before the door shut and he was gone; in this way, Seymour (not Holden) becomes the emblem for Salinger himself.
