# JD Salinger RIP **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 28, 2010, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jd-salinger-rip/526789 "2010-01-28T18:06:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jd-salinger-rip/526789/41 "2010-01-28T22:52:57Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > Are you kidding? It has to be set in 1950 on the nose. Very little, if any, of it could have happened, or happened as it did, in any other era. Or maybe [earlier](http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/The-Catcher-in-the-Rye-J-D-Salinger-Biography-Early-Work.id-53,pageNum-5.html): > [@](#): > > Despite receiving a number of rejection slips, Salinger continued to write and submit stories. He sold his first Holden Caulfield story (eventually revised and titled “Slight Rebellion Off Madison”) to the prestigious New Yorker magazine in 1941, but it was not published until 1946. … > > In 1946, a ninety-page novella (a short novel) about Holden Caulfield was nearly published, but Salinger withdrew from the agreement. Another five years passed before he introduced the classic in novel form. Salinger was the great short story writer of his era. I’m in agreement that “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” is among the top five of the century. And like everyone else who is truly honest about the subject, I’ve been waiting for him to die for years just to satisfy my curiosity about whether he’s been writing and whether any of it, even one line, is worth reading. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jd-salinger-rip/526789/42 "2010-01-28T22:59:36Z")
What if he’s got a vault, all right, but it turns out to be stacks and stacks of BVS fan fiction? ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jd-salinger-rip/526789/43 "2010-01-28T22:59:41Z")
I wonder if Mark David Chapman sat down and started reading a Lennon biography when he heard the news about Salinger… ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jd-salinger-rip/526789/44 "2010-01-28T23:03:08Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > What if he’s got a vault, all right, but it turns out to be stacks and stacks of BVS fan fiction? [It could happen.](http://www.theonion.com/content/news/new_terminator_movie_brings_j_d) ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jd-salinger-rip/526789/45 "2010-01-28T23:21:01Z")
What’s BVS? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jd-salinger-rip/526789/46 "2010-01-28T23:22:02Z")
Buffy the Vampire Slayer. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jd-salinger-rip/526789/47 "2010-01-28T23:22:23Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > So you think he was Holden out on us? I do. We should tell the estate to Caulfield up. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jd-salinger-rip/526789/48 "2010-01-28T23:31:30Z")
I wonder how many people who saw **Field of Dreams** (but didn’t read the book it was based on, W.P. Kinsella’s _Shoeless Joe_) realize that the character of Terence Mann was originally Salinger in the book. Kinsella used the real-life author as a character because Salinger had written stories that had characters named “Kinsella” in them (including _Catcher in the Rye_). I read CitR, but didn’t care for it at all. I never understood why it was immensely popular with some people, including a lot of educators. I felt no kinship with Holden Caulfield. Don’t write me screeds explaining why it’s popular and why I should like it – I’ve read enough essays on it by now. But it never spoke to me in a meaningful way. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jd-salinger-rip/526789/49 "2010-01-28T23:31:44Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > **Cat Fight** , that reminds me: What was the deal with Joyce Maynard? My friend spits nails when he hears her name. Apparently she had some tryst with ol’ Jerome, then wrote about it, or at least talked about it, was that what happened? The usual. She wrote an essay when she was 18 and he, 35 years older, took notice. They exchanged letters, she dropped out of Yale and went to live with him (and his daughter, I think..?). He dropped her. Anyway, she’s been portrayed badly for whatever reasons. Invading his privacy, maybe. Writing a memoir 25 years later. I don’t think I have to tell you he’s got quite a devoted fanbase. One creepy detail I remember reading was how he brought her to the gynecologist because she was ‘too tight’ or something similar. At 18. Ew. I am a huge fan of his work, though. Oh well. Never meet your heroes. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jd-salinger-rip/526789/50 "2010-01-28T23:53:03Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > What if he’s got a vault, all right, but it turns out to be stacks and stacks of BVS fan fiction? I promise, here and now, that if I ever become a successful novelist, that I’m going to do at least a token example of something like this—probably even a crossover with my own work—and leave it in a vault for after I’m dead. The more serious and respected my works are, the more gruesomely stupid I’ll make it. I swear it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jd-salinger-rip/526789/51 "2010-01-29T00:17:58Z")
NBC reports visitors spoke of notebooks in great profusion. Piled, not shelved, natch. Probably an editor’s dream and a publisher’s nightmare. If there’s that much, I imagine most will never see daylight whatever is in them. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jd-salinger-rip/526789/52 "2010-01-29T00:30:02Z")
As someone who was forced to read his blathering shit, I can only say that I am not sorry for his death. Whiny, screwed up author. The world can only be improved by his passing. He was way over-rated and hid behind “I am a recluse” as an excuse. ---
**Author:** ![fubbleskag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fubbleskag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fubbleskag)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jd-salinger-rip/526789/53 "2010-01-29T00:34:46Z")
> [@John Hodgman](#): > > I prefer to think JD Salinger has just decided to become extra reclusive. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jd-salinger-rip/526789/54 "2010-01-29T00:43:25Z")
> [@ghardester](#): > > As someone who was forced to read his blathering shit, I can only say that I am not sorry for his death. > > Whiny, screwed up author. The world can only be improved by his passing. He was way over-rated and hid behind “I am a recluse” as an excuse. Why, thank you so much for dropping by to make this classy post, Mr. Class. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jd-salinger-rip/526789/55 "2010-01-29T00:43:54Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > **Cat Fight** , that reminds me: What was the deal with Joyce Maynard? My friend spits nails when he hears her name. Apparently she had some tryst with ol’ Jerome, then wrote about it, or at least talked about it, was that what happened? > **[Joyce Maynard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyce_Maynard)** > > Joyce Maynard (born November 5, 1953) is an American novelist and journalist. She began her career in journalism in the 1970s, writing for several publications, most notably Seventeen magazine and The New York Times. Maynard contributed to Mademoiselle and Harrowsmith magazines in the 1980s, while also beginning a career as a novelist with the publication of her first novel, Baby Love (1981). Her second novel, To Die For (1992), drew on the Pamela Smart murder case and was adapted by Gus Van Sant... Doesn’t give too much detail. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jd-salinger-rip/526789/56 "2010-01-29T00:44:28Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > Probably an editor’s dream and a publisher’s nightmare. The opposite. Publisher makes money, editor has to make sense of that shit. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jd-salinger-rip/526789/57 "2010-01-29T00:46:12Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > I promise, here and now, that if I ever become a successful novelist, that I’m going to do at least a token example of something like this—probably even a crossover with my own work—and leave it in a vault for after I’m dead. I did exactly that (I am a published novelist, I don’t know if I’d say successful). I did a crossover of my YA baseball novel and Lovecraft for my blog. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jd-salinger-rip/526789/58 "2010-01-29T01:33:30Z")
> [@cricetus](#): > > Why, thank you so much for dropping by to make this classy post, Mr. Class. It actually reads like something Holden Coffield would write, so maybe **Ghardester** meant it as a tribute. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ProudlyDefiant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@ProudlyDefiant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ProudlyDefiant)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jd-salinger-rip/526789/59 "2010-01-29T03:01:52Z")
I’m in the middle of teaching The Catcher in the Rye to my Honors Juniors. It’s the first book all year they’ve actually enjoyed! ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jd-salinger-rip/526789/60 "2010-01-29T03:26:54Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > It actually reads like something Holden Coffield would write, so maybe **Ghardester** meant it as a tribute. 🙂 Perhaps. I remember ‘the book’ the same way that a vegetarian would remember being force-fed hot dogs. I couldn’t get the taste out of my mouth and still wish I could regurgitate the thing from my mind. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jd-salinger-rip/526789.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jd-salinger-rip/526789.md?page=4)