Sources
- Slawenski, Kenneth. 2010. J. D. Salinger: A Life. Random House, New York. ISBN 978-1-4000-6951-4
 | This article about a short story (or stories) published in the 1940s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
| "The Magic Foxhole" | |
|---|---|
| Short story by J. D. Salinger | |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publication | |
| Published in | Unpublished |
The Magic Foxhole is an unpublished short story by J. D. Salinger.
The story, told in the first-person by a narrator named Garrity, takes place days after D-Day. Garrity describes a friend of his, another soldier named Gardner, who is suffering from battle fatigue. Gardner is in the hospital, hallucinating. He sees a soldier in his room dressed in a futuristic uniform with weaponry he doesn't recognize. Garrity finds out that the soldier he sees is in fact Gardner's son (who has not been born yet) about to go into combat during World War III. Gardner tells Garrity he must kill him, to prevent him from dying in combat and hopefully preventing the future war. The story ends abruptly with Garrity leaving the hospital, while Gardner screams in horror.
“‘The Magic Foxhole’ is a strong condemnation of war and one that could have been written only by a soldier…Its message countered the propaganda common in 1944 with a frankness that could have been interpreted as subversive…Even had this story slipped by the military censors, it is hard to imagine a publisher with the courage to print it.”—Biographer Kenneth Slawenski in J. D. Salinger: A Life (2010) [1]
The 21 page story was written in 1944 [2] while Salinger was in the service during D-Day “the first he wrote while on the front line and the only work in which he depicted active combat.” [3] and was submitted to The New Yorker but rejected. The story is noteworthy for its graphic descriptions of the combat during the D-Day invasion. Salinger noted in at least one letter [4] he believed the piece was a demonstration of the "psychological drama" he began to place in his character's heads, particularly war veterans. He had a high opinion of the piece, which will not be published until 2060, and after much discussion it was planned to be included in the collection he arranged with Whit Burnett and Story Press' Lippincott imprint, [5] but the deal fell through, much to the author's consternation.
| | This article about a short story (or stories) published in the 1940s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
"Hapworth 16, 1924" is an uncollected work of short fiction by J. D. Salinger that appeared in the June 19, 1965, issue of The New Yorker.
"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.
"For Esmé—with Love and Squalor" is a short story by J. D. Salinger. It recounts an American sergeant's meeting with a young girl before being sent into combat in World War II. Originally published in The New Yorker on April 8, 1950, it was anthologized in Salinger's Nine Stories two years later.
“Slight Rebellion off Madison” is an uncollected work of short fiction by J. D. Salinger which appeared in the 21 December 1946 issue of The New Yorker.
"Down at the Dinghy" is a short story by J. D. Salinger, originally published in Harper's in April 1949, and included in the compilation, Nine Stories.
“A Boy in France” is an uncollected work of short fiction by J. D. Salinger which appeared in the 31 March 1945 issue of The Saturday Evening Post.
"The Hang of It" is a short story by J. D. Salinger, first published in the July 12, 1941 issue of Collier's magazine.
“The Long Debut of Lois Taggett” is an uncollected work of short fiction by J. D. Salinger which appeared in the September-October 1942 issue of Story.
“Personal Notes of an Infantryman” is an uncollected work of short fiction by J. D. Salinger which appeared in the December 12, 1942 issue of Collier's.
“The Varioni Brothers” is an uncollected work of short fiction by J. D. Salinger which appeared in the 17 July, 1943 issue of The Saturday Evening Post.
“Both Parties Concerned” is an uncollected work of short fiction by J. D. Salinger which appeared in the 26 February, 1944 issue of The Saturday Evening Post.
“Soft-Boiled Sergeant” is an uncollected work of short fiction by J. D. Salinger which appeared in the 15 April 1944 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. The story was illustrated by Graham Kaye..
“Once a Week Won’t Kill You” is a work of short fiction by J. D. Salinger published in the November–December 1944 issue of Story. The story is included in the 2014 Salinger collection Three Early Stories.
“Blue Melody” is an uncollected work of short fiction by J. D. Salinger which appeared in the September 1948 issue of Cosmopolitan. The story was inspired by the life of Bessie Smith and was originally titled "Needle on a Scratchy Phonograph Record". Cosmopolitan changed the title to "Blue Melody" without Salinger's consent, a "slick" magazine tactic that was one of the reasons the author decided, in the late forties, that "he wanted to publish only in The New Yorker."
“Elaine” is an uncollected work of short fiction by J. D. Salinger which appeared in the March-April, 1945 issue of Story.
"This Sandwich Has No Mayonnaise" is an uncollected work of short fiction by J. D. Salinger which appeared in the October 1945 issue of Esquire. The story was published in the 1958 anthology The Armchair Esquire, edited by Arnold Gingrich and L. Rust Hills.
“A Girl I Knew” is an uncollected work of short fiction by J. D. Salinger which appeared in the February 1948 issue of Good Housekeeping.
"The Last and Best of the Peter Pans" is an unpublished short story by J. D. Salinger.
“The Children’s Echelon” is an unpublished work of short fiction by J. D. Salinger written in 1944 when the author was serving in combat during World War II. The work was referred to as both “The Children’s Echelon” and “Total War Diary” in Salinger’s professional correspondence. It can be located in the Firestone Library in Princeton University.
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.