If You Really Want to Hear about It: Writers on J.D. Salinger and His Work

By: Perseus

Famously reclusive and yet an undying source of inspiration for generations of readers, Salinger is one of the greatest mysteries of American literature. This is the first comprehensive collection of writings about J. D. Salinger and his work, an amalgam of over fifty years' worth of attempted interviews, documented sightings, unauthorized profiles, and stifled cries of devotion, as well as the best of the book reviews. If You Really Want to Hear About It includes a never-before-published retrospective by Joyce Maynard, whose 1997 memoir, which documented her year-long affair with Salinger when she was sixteen-years-old, caused a rupture in the literary establishment. Contributors include Betty Eppes, Michiko Kakutani, Alfred Kazin, Joyce Maynard, Mary McCarthy, Arthur Mizener, George Plimpton, Joanna Smith Rakoff, Ron Rosenbaum, Margaret Salinger, John Updike, Eudora Welty, Jonathan Yardley and many others.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1560258802
• ISBN13: 9781560258803
• Release Date: June 2006
• Publisher: Avalon Publishing
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.9" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Really fascinating

As a fan of Salinger, I wondered if this would be awesome or just disappoint. And I have to say it's such a great sampling of writers and insights, I couldn't put it down.

Of great value for any fan of Salinger and his work

By not wishing to be bothered by the public, by becoming a recluse Salinger achieved the exact opposite of what he had hoped to. Instead of being more left alone he was more inquired about. The curiosity about his life at times seemed to exceed the curiosity about his work. This is a subject he has much to say about when his alter- ego Buddy Glass talks about his own teaching of Literature, and what for him is the distressing fact that his students seem to care a lot more about the personal life of the writer than about what he has written. It would be unfair to characterize this collection as such as it contains many fine and interesting reviews of the work. Still a considerable part is those kind of hunting out the writer essays which usually give us little more than we knew before. The present work has interviews, reviews of his work, assessments of his literary place in the Tradition. Among the writers are Updike, Mary McCarthy, Eudora Welty, Ron Rosenbaum, Michiko Kakutani, and perhaps most importantly Salinger's daughter Margeret and his former girlfriend Joyce Maynard. This work should be of great interest to real fans of Salinger even if it doesnot give complete analysis of the work.

Jerry's world

I can't say I'm a big JD Salinger fan - I always thought THE CATCHER IN THE RYE was a great, even must-read book, but only before the age of 17, after which it loses it's power to inspire and even entertain, and that the Glass stories were just a bit too pretentious. But I must admit after reading this anthology of essays, reviews, and personal memoirs (usually recounting attempts at meeting the hermit-like Salinger in person) I care even less for the writing and almost nothing for the man. The harshest critics here - Jonathan Yardley, Mary McCarthy, Louis Menand - seem to be right on target: it's just possible that the author who made his chief characters rail so much against "phoniness" might be the biggest phony of all. Salinger comes across as a possibly sexually perverted, definitely dictatorial, self-centered monster who is apparently lost in a make-believe world of 1940s movies and a daily writing regimen that might be producing numerous literary works for future generations of readers to ponder - or might be producing nothing at all. Alex Beam makes a good case that even Salinger's reclusion and maniacal desire to protect his privacy might be all a ploy to make sure he's never forgotten: when he's out of the news for a while he suddenly resurfaces, usually with outrage that once again his privacy has been violated. Beam calls him a "master showman, a genius spin doctor, a public relations wizard." Two people who knew him well - his daughter Margaret Salinger and his lover for a year Joyce Maynard - write about the man in totally unflattering terms. There are 29 selections included in this anthology and they span the gamut from fanatical worshipping to clear-headed debunking. My major complaint is with the extraordinary number of typos in the text: it's embarrassing and gives the whole book a feeling of being a throw-off not to be taken seriously. Other than that, it's a pretty interesting compilation.

Excellent and well-balanced collection

Although there have been at least two other books offering selected articles on Salinger's work, this is the most comprehensive, wide-ranging and up-to-date by far. Editor Crawford casts a wide net, including critical analyses, memoirs, book reviews, interviews, and other material related to the author both as a writer and as a person. Even the internet was investigated, and it is good to see a long excerpt (updated) from Sarah Morrill's unique web site. The book covers the period from the early 1950s to the early 2000s. All Salinger fans must own this.

Trust me -- you do really want to hear about it

This is a charming and amazingly well done book. A must read for both hardcore Salinger fans and anyone who ever had their life transformed after reading Catcher in the Rye in 8th grade. If you've ever been curious about the famously reclusive man behind some of your favorite stories, this book offers the most entertaining insights out there as far as I can tell. Great, great stuff. Not phony at all.