Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger

"Life is a gift horse in my opinion"--Teddy

While not a novel but instead a collection of short stories I would like to contend that, combined with Franny and Zooey and Raise High the Roofbeams Carpenters and Seymour the combination of stories about the Glass family, the family of geniuses, constitute a novel. Nine Stories is simply the best introduction to these compilations.

Many of these stories are centered around interactions between adults and children and how those interactions help the adults see something in themselves--sometimes positive, sometimes negative. The adults are either flawed and insecure (check) or those other people, you know, the ones you like to make fun of. The kids are, for the most part, some kind of uber-intelligent, precocious and yet fragile combination and only those flawed but sensitive adults can really communicate with them.
The physical and psychological affects of war also lay heavily on many of these individuals.

Readability: Personally, I'm a big fan of of the dialogue in these stories (especially that of the children), the rather sly humor and the way he describes people's simple movements, "He folded the robe, first lengthwise, then in thirds. He unrolled the towel he had used over his eyes, spread it out on the sand, and then laid the folded robe on top of it. He bent over picked up the float, and secured it under his right arm. Then, with his left hand, he took Sybil's hand." Unnecessarily long description, maybe, but do I want to know that he grabbed her hand with his left hand, yes.

Enjoyability (is that a word?): All the stories are enjoyable in their own way, I like to pick it up and read the story that best fits my current mood.

Favorite quote(s):
"Twenty minutes later they were finishing their first highball in the living room and were talking in the manner peculiar, probably limited, to former college roommates"--Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut
"She put her hands and wrists further forward on the table and I remember wanting to do something about that enormous faced wristwatch she was wearing--perhaps suggest that she try wearing it around her waist"--For Esme--with Love and Squalor
"It was a long time before X could set the letter aside, let alone lift Esme's father's wristwatch out of the box. When he did finally lift it out, he saw that its crystal had been broken in transit. He wondered if the watch was otherwise undamaged, but he hadn't the courage to wind it and find out.--For Esme--with Love and Squalor
"This was the sort of question Mrs. Snell slipped into as if it were an ermine coat." --Down at the Dinghy
"Her Joke of a name aside, her general unprettiness aside, she was--in terms of permanently memorable, immoderately perceptive, small-are faces--a stunning and final girl." --Down at the Dinghy
"I'll exquisite day you, buddy, if you don't get down off that bag this minute. And I mean it."--Teddy
"Yes, sure, I love Him. But I don't love Him sentimentally. He never said anybody had to love Him sentimentally,' Teddy said. 'If I were God, I certainly wouldn't want people to love me sentimentally. It's too unreliable."--Teddy

Favorite character: Seymour mainly because of his impact in other Salinger stories, Teddy, Bo Bo (really anyone in the Glass family), Esme and her brother, Sergent X, Lionel...aaand I'm stopping before I mention every character.

Least favorite character: Muriel's mother in A Perfect Day for a Bananafish. Its a fantastic story but I just can't stand her.

Social impact: The greatest social impact of Salinger's writings seems to have come from his status as a mad man recluse for the last 40 or so years. Ooh, and that he also wrote that book Catcher in the Rye that everyone was FORCED to read in High School. I'd hate to think this would deter anyone from reading his other work, cause it's really worth a look.

Greatest impact: Be ready for some ending shockers but also some great connections between people and surprising one-liners that come out of nowhere.

Best Stories: A Perfect Day for Bananafish, Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut, Down at the Dinghy, For Esme--with Love and Squalor, Teddy

Recommended for: Fans of rainy days, Belle and Sebastian and Wes Anderson (I stole this from someone else but...any of these characters would slip right into the Tenenbaum family...) but, you'd better not be a phony.

Overall: Sigh, I just really love this book. It's always been comforting to return to and read a story here and there over the years and I find myself mentioning things from it in everyday conversation (slightly embarrassingly). A good introduction to Salinger's short stories, but really, they're all pretty great.


Salinger had many more stories published in various magazines over time but they were never put into book form. Someday I will search out these stories, but until that day comes, here's some information on them and where they can be found.

http://www.deadcaulfields.com/UncollectedList.html http://www.deadcaulfields.com/Unpublished.html

Also, since the death of Salinger, there have been rumors of a possible treasure trove of written work hidden in his home written after he became a crazy recluse. Does it make me a bad person that I was a little excited when he died?

http://theweek.com/article/index/105708/JD_Salingers_unpublished_work_What_now