Salinger (book)

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Salinger
The official book cover for the SALINGER biography.jpg
First edition cover
Author David Shields
Shane Salerno
LanguageEnglish
Genre Non-fiction
Biography
Publisher Simon & Schuster
Publication date
2013
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (Hardback), paperback
Pages698 pp
ISBN 978-1476744858
OCLC 827262667

Salinger is a New York Times best-selling biography by David Shields and Shane Salerno published by Simon & Schuster in September 2013. The book is an oral biographical portrait of reclusive American author J. D. Salinger. It explores Salinger's life, with emphasis on his military service in World War II, his post-traumatic stress disorder, his subsequent writing career, his retreat from fame, his religious beliefs and his relationships with teenage girls.

Contents

Salinger debuted at #6 on the New York Times bestsellers list [1] and stayed on the list for three weeks. It was #1 on the Los Angeles Times bestsellers list. [2] Additionally, Salinger was named to the bestsellers lists for NPR, [3] Independent Booksellers, [4] and Barnes & Noble. It was named the Amazon Best Book of the Month in September 2013, [5] received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews [6] and Publishers Weekly , [7] and was chosen as a Book of the Month Club Selection [8] and the History Book Club Selection for September 2013. [9]

The accompanying documentary Salinger was featured as the 200th episode of American Masters on PBS. [10]

Background

On January 29, 2013, The New York Times announced Simon & Schuster acquired the biography. Jonathan Karp, the publisher at Simon & Schuster, stated: "We are honored to be the publisher of what we believe will be the foundational book on one of the most beloved and most puzzling figures of the 20th century. Many of us who read The Catcher in the Rye have, at some point in our lives, wished we could know the author better. Now, we finally can." [11]

Salinger is the 17th book by David Shields and the first book by author, screenwriter, and producer Shane Salerno. Salerno's interest in Salinger began when, as a child, he read all of Salinger's published work and learned that the author had retreated from public life to live in a rural town in New Hampshire, where he ostensibly wrote every day yet vowed never to publish again. Salerno began researching Salinger's life and, after beginning production on his documentary film Salinger, felt there was too much information for the film. This resulted in the book, which took 10 years to complete and entailed over 200 interviews on five continents. [12]

Response

Scott Bowles in USA Today gave Salinger 3 ½ out of 4 stars: "Eloquently written and exhaustively reported... Salinger is an unmitigated success... There's no denying that Shields and Salerno have struck journalistic gold. Salinger is a revelation, and offers the most complete picture of an American icon, a man deified by silence, haunted by war, frustrated in love—and more frail and human than he ever wanted the world to know." [13] Lev Grossman of Time said Salinger "presents a decade's worth of genuinely valuable research... there are riches here... Salinger doesn't excuse its subject's personal failings, but it helps explain them: in his fiction, Salinger had a chance to be the good, untraumatized man he couldn't be in real life." [14] John Walsh of The Sunday Times (London) called the book "A stupendous work." [15] David Ulin of Los Angeles Times wrote, that "Salinger gets the goods on an author's reclusive life... it strips away the sheen of his exceptionalism, trading in his genius for something much more real." [16] Associated Press said Salinger was "thoroughly documented... Providing by far the most detailed report of previously unreleased material, the book... both fleshes out and challenges aspects of the author's legend." [17] Tina Jordan of Entertainment Weekly gave the book a grade of B−, saying that "the reminiscences are layered with a stunning array of primary material…taken as a whole—the memories, the documents, the pictures—the book feels as close as we'll ever get to being inside Salinger's head," while also writing that the book is "a bit of a shambling, unwieldy mess." [18] Kirkus Reviews called it a "thoroughly revealing biography," stating that "Shields and Salerno chase down the story in minute detail." [6] Laura Miller in Salon said that the book is "refreshingly frank about their subject's many shortcomings and how they might have affected his work... Salinger amply documents the author's youthful arrogance and selfishness, his infatuation with his own cleverness and his inability to see the world from the perspective of anyone who wasn't a lot like himself." [19] Jeff Simon wrote in Buffalo News that this is a "now-irreplaceable book about the greatest enigma of modern American literature... Salinger can't tell 'all' about its subject but it tells more than we've ever known before... a complex but well-constructed narrative composed of fragments of history, anecdote and commentary." [20] Tucker Shaw in The Denver Post called the book "an exhaustively detailed portrait of the famously reclusive novelist J. D. Salinger." [21]

Carl Rollyson in The Wall Street Journal wrote that while the book was "engrossing," it "is biography as scrapbook, chock-full of well-known figures and well-worn stories." Rollyson said that Salinger "would be more fun if it had an index, so that the dopey parts could be skipped." He concluded, "Salinger also never comes together as a story for readers" and suggested that "the raw material in Salinger will need to be digested by yet another biographer... We have waited so long to understand J. D. Salinger. We must wait longer." [22] In The New York Times, Michiko Kakutani thought that the authors had done "an energetic job of finding sources and persuading them to talk" but the books's "Internet-age narrative" and "sloppy scholarship," made it "a sprawling, cut-and-paste collage." [23] Writing in The Guardian (London), Sam Leith said that the volume contained "new and fascinating nuggets" and "isn't worthless." But he summarized it as "vast, silly, boastful, prurient, intellectually incoherent and basically philistine" and "a frustrating hodgepodge." [24] "[M]uch of what is in here has no real bearing on Salinger's works themselves," wrote Martin Rubin in The Washington Times , "and is simply yet another contribution to what Joyce Carol Oates pungently termed pathography." [25] Rubin also wrote that the book was "well-presented and valuable…consistently interesting." Louis Bayard of The Washington Post wrote that "the book offers the most complete rendering yet of Salinger's World War II service, the transformative trauma that began with the D-Day invasion and carried through the horrific Battle of Hürtgen Forest and the liberation of a Dachau subcamp." But he criticized many other elements of the book, writing, "It contains no index. Its end notes are seriously incomplete. Its passing errors (names are misspelled more than once) suggest a book that has been rushed to market. The absence of connective prose tissue leaves the pages echoing with voices and countervoices and no clear way to distinguish between them." [26] Pat Padua in Seattle Post-Intelligencer described the book as "terrible," specifying it as "badly edited, poorly conceived, and at times embarrassingly written." [27] In Los Angeles Review of Books , Cornel Bonca found Salinger to be "stuffed with lots of good raw information" and marked by a "clear, often compelling narrative." But overall, Bonca found that the "bloated" and "ham-fisted" book was "an elaborate cut-and-paste job" that constituted "a savage and somewhat revengeful disembowelment." [28] Andrew Romano of The Daily Beast wrote "Salinger is full of fascinating revelations" though after its "breathless attempts" to explain its subject, "I still didn't have a handle on what Salinger was like." [29]

The average review score for the book on Amazon is 3.6 out of 5 stars, indicating positive reviews. [30]

Related Research Articles

The New York Times Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. The New York Times Book Review has published the list weekly since October 12, 1931. In the 21st century, it has evolved into multiple lists, grouped by genre and format, including fiction and nonfiction, hardcover, paperback and electronic.

<i>The Catcher in the Rye</i> 1951 novel by J. D. Salinger

The Catcher in the Rye is a novel by American author J. D. Salinger that was partially published in serial form in 1945–46 before being novelized in 1951. Originally intended for adults, it is often read by adolescents for its themes of angst and alienation, and as a critique of superficiality in society. The novel also deals with themes of innocence, identity, belonging, loss, connection, sex, and depression. The main character, Holden Caulfield, has become an icon for teenage rebellion. Caulfield, nearly of age, gives his opinion on a wide variety of topics as he narrates his recent life events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joyce Maynard</span> American writer

Joyce Maynard 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 into the film To Die For in 1995. Maynard received significant media attention in 1998 with the publication of her memoir At Home in the World, in which she describes her relationship with J. D. Salinger.

Matthew Douglas Salinger is an American actor. He is known for his appearances in the films Revenge of the Nerds and Captain America.

"A Perfect Day for Bananafish" is a short story by J. D. Salinger, originally published in the January 31, 1948, issue of The New Yorker. It was anthologized in 1949's 55 Short Stories from the New Yorker, as well as in Salinger's 1953 collection Nine Stories. The story is an enigmatic examination of a young married couple, Muriel and Seymour Glass, on vacation in Florida. It is the first of his stories to feature a member of the fictional Glass family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Renner</span> American journalist

James Renner is an American author, investigative journalist, producer, and director. He worked as a reporter for Cleveland Scene and was editor of the alternative newspaper The Cleveland Independent. He is known for his work in the thriller, science fiction, and true crime genres. In 2019, Renner founded The Porchlight Project, a nonprofit dedicated to offering support for the families of the missing and murdered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Shields</span> American author and film director

David Shields is an American author who has published twenty-four books, including Reality Hunger, The Thing About Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead, Black Planet, and Other People: Takes & Mistakes. The Very Last Interview was published by New York Review Books in 2022.

<i>Nowhere Man: The Final Days of John Lennon</i> 2000 book by Robert Rosen

Nowhere Man: The Final Days of John Lennon, first published in 2000 and written by New York journalist Robert Rosen, who in 1981 had access to John Lennon's diaries, is a controversial account of the ex-Beatle's last five years. Rosen says in the book's first chapter, "John Lennon's Diaries," that he used his memory of Lennon's diaries as "a roadmap to the truth." The title of the book refers to The Beatles' song "Nowhere Man".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shane Salerno</span> American filmmaker and activist

Shane Salerno is an American screenwriter. His writing credits include the films Avatar: The Way of Water, Armageddon, Savages,Shaft, and the TV series Hawaii Five-0.

The 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger has had a lasting influence as it remains both a bestseller and a frequently challenged book. Numerous works in popular culture have referenced the novel. Factors contributing to the novel's mystique and impact include its portrayal of protagonist Holden Caulfield; its tone of sincerity; its themes of familial neglect, tension between teens and society, and rebellion; its previous banned status; and Salinger's reclusiveness. The Catcher in the Rye has inspired "rewrites" which have been said to form their own genre. On the other hand, there are examples of similarities between the novel and other works that were not intended by their authors, which suggests that the novel is "present, at least spiritually, in ... any story line that involves quirky young people struggling to find their places in a society prone to reward conformity and condemn individuality."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Goldberg</span> American writer

Lee Goldberg is an American author, screenwriter, publisher and producer known for his bestselling novels Lost Hills and True Fiction and his work on a wide variety of TV crime series, including Diagnosis: Murder, A Nero Wolfe Mystery, Hunter, Spenser: For Hire, Martial Law, She-Wolf of London, SeaQuest, 1-800-Missing, The Glades and Monk.

"The Hang of It" is a short story by J. D. Salinger, first published in the July 12, 1941 issue of Collier's magazine.

<i>Finding Forrester</i> 2000 American drama film by Gus Van Sant

Finding Forrester is a 2000 American drama film written by Mike Rich and directed by Gus Van Sant. In the film, a black teenager, Jamal Wallace, is invited to attend a prestigious private high school. By chance, Jamal befriends a reclusive writer, William Forrester, through whom he refines his talent for writing and comes to terms with his identity. Anna Paquin, F. Murray Abraham, Michael Pitt, Glenn Fitzgerald, April Grace, Busta Rhymes, and Charles Bernstein star in supporting roles.

David Streitfeld is a Pulitzer Prize–winning American journalist, best known for his reporting on books and technology. During his tenure as book reporter at The Washington Post, he definitively identified Joe Klein as the "Anonymous" author of the 1996 novel Primary Colors, upon which Klein admitted authorship, despite earlier denials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. D. Salinger</span> American writer (1919–2010)

Jerome David Salinger was an American author best known for his 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye. Salinger published several short stories in Story magazine in 1940, before serving in World War II. In 1948, his critically acclaimed story "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" appeared in The New Yorker, which published much of his later work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles J. Shields</span>

Charles J. Shields is an American biographer of mid-century American novelists and writers.

<i>Salinger</i> (film) 2013 American film

Salinger is a 2013 American documentary film about the reclusive writer J. D. Salinger directed and produced by Shane Salerno. The film tells the story of Salinger's life through interviews with friends, historians, and journalists. The film premiered at the 40th annual Telluride Film Festival and had a second premiere on the opening night of the Toronto International Film Festival.

<i>Three Early Stories</i>

Three Early Stories is a posthumous publication of American author J. D. Salinger, published in 2014, comprising three stories: "The Young Folks", "Go See Eddie" and "Once a Week Won't Kill You".

Thomas Alan Graves is an American journalist, nonfiction writer, and novelist. He is best known as the author of Crossroads, a biography of blues musician Robert Johnson. He is also known for his work as a producer and writer for the film Best of Enemies. He co-owns the independent publishing company, The Devault-Graves Agency, and is a tenured Assistant Professor of English at LeMoyne–Owen College in Memphis.

<i>The Complete Uncollected Short Stories of J. D. Salinger, Vol. 1 & 2</i>

Neither Salinger in his lifetime nor his estate after his death has ever authorized the publication of a volume of Salinger's registered early short fiction which appeared in magazines between 1940 and 1965. Reprints of his early stories have appeared under the auspices of Esquire and The New Yorker, to which Salinger stories had originally been sold.

References

  1. ↑ Taylor, Ihsan. "Best Sellers - The New York Times". The New York Times . Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  2. ↑ "Shane Salerno - Bestsellers - Los Angeles Times". Projects.latimes.com. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  3. ↑ Levin, Mark R. "Bestsellers: Hardcover Nonfiction, Week Of September 12, 2013". NPR. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  4. ↑ "National Indie Bestsellers - Hardcover Nonfiction | American Booksellers Association". Bookweb.org. 2013-09-15. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  5. ↑ Salinger: David Shields, Shane Salerno: Amazon.com: Books . Amazon.com. 2013-09-03. ISBN   9781476744834.
  6. 1 2 "SALINGER by David Shields, Shane Salerno | Kirkus". Kirkusreviews.com. 2013-10-01. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  7. ↑ "Nonfiction Book Review: Salinger by David Shields and Shane Salerno". Publishersweekly.com. 2013-09-23. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  8. ↑ Shields, David (1966-10-16). "Salinger | Book-of-the-Month Club". Bomcclub.com. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  9. ↑ Shields, David. "Salinger". The History Book Club. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  10. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (January 30, 2013). "Next Up For J.D. Salinger Docu: Film Distribution Deal To Follow S&S Book Pact". Deadline Hollywood.
  11. ↑ Itzkoff, Dave (2013-01-29). "Biography of J.D. Salinger Coming in September". The New York Times . Retrieved 2015-08-06.
  12. ↑ "New film puts J.D. Salinger where he loathed to be – in the public eye". Archived from the original on September 13, 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  13. ↑ "'Salinger' draws back author's thick veil of secrecy". Usatoday.com. 2013-09-02. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  14. ↑ Grossman, Lev (16 September 2013). "A Fresh Look at J.D. Salinger's Life" . Retrieved 6 August 2018– via content.time.com.
  15. ↑ John Walsh (2013-09-08). "Salinger by David Shields and Shane Salerno". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on December 2, 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  16. ↑ "'Salinger' gets the goods on an author's reclusive life - Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. 2013-08-28. Archived from the original on September 27, 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  17. ↑ "New biography claims more J.D. Salinger books due to be published  - NY Daily News". New York Daily News . Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  18. ↑ "Salinger review Review". EW.com. 2013-08-30. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  19. ↑ "What was J.D. Salinger's problem?". 4 September 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  20. ↑ "'Salinger' can't tell 'all' about its subject but it tells more than we've ever known before - Life & Arts - the Buffalo News". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2015-08-09.
  21. ↑ "New J. D. Salinger biography creates conflict for fans". blogs.denverpost.com. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  22. ↑ Rollyson, Carl (2 September 2013). "Book Review: 'Salinger' by David Shields and Shane Salerno" . Retrieved 6 August 2018– via www.wsj.com.
  23. ↑ Kakutani, Michiko. "A Biography From David Shields and Shane Salerno" . Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  24. ↑ Leith, Sam (20 September 2013). "Salinger by David Shields and Shane Salerno – review". the Guardian. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  25. ↑ "BOOK REVIEW: 'Salinger'". The Washington Times . Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  26. ↑ Bayard, Louis (2013-08-30). "Review: 'Salinger,' a biography of the reclusive author, by David Shields and Shane Salerno - Washington Post". Articles.washingtonpost.com. Archived from the original on 2013-09-05. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  27. ↑ "Book Review: 'Salinger' by David Shields and Shane Salerno". 26 September 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  28. ↑ "Salinger Betrayed: On Shane Salerno's "Salinger" - Los Angeles Review of Books" . Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  29. ↑ Romano, Andrew (2013-09-09). "What We Really Know about J.D. Salinger". Thedailybeast.com. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  30. ↑ "Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Salinger". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
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