Synopsis
In the spring of 1972, Joyce Maynard, a freshman at Yale, published a cover story in The New York Times Magazine about life as a young person in the '60s. Among the many letters of praise, offers for writing assignments, and requests for interviews was a one-page letter from the famously reclusive author, J. D. Salinger.
At Home in the World is the story of a girl who loved and lived with J. D. Salinger, and the woman she became. A crucial turning point in Joyce Maynard's life occurred when her own daughter turned 18 -- the age Maynard was when Salinger first approached her. Breaking a 25-year silence, Joyce Maynard addresses her relationship with Salinger for the first time, as well as the complicated, troubled and yet creative nature of her youth and family. She vividly describes the details of the times and her life with the finesse of a natural storyteller.
Courageously written by a woman determined to allow her life to unfold with authenticity, At Home in the World is a testament to the resilency of the spirit and the honesty of an unwavering eye.
Elizabeth Gleick
Flatly written, with detail piling upon detail like so much slag on a heap. . . .Maynard sheds no light on anything beyond the little spotlight she is standing in. . . .Just because Salinger is a brute, should we feel satisfied that Maynard has shredded his privacy? Just because we are dying to know, does that mean we have the right to know? — Time Magazine