Overview
J.D. Salinger was one of the twentieth century’s greatest writers. He was also one of its most elusive. After making his mark on the American literary scene, Salinger retreated to a small town in New Hampshire where he hoped to hide his life away from the world. With dogged determination, however, journalist and biographer Paul Alexander captured Salinger’s story in this, the only complete biography of Holden Caulfield’s creator published to date. Using the archives at Princeton, Yale, Harvard, Columbia, NYU and the New York Public Library as well as research in New York and New Hampshire, Alexander has created a great biography of Salinger that’s further enriched by interviews with some of the greatest literary figures of our time: George Plimpton, Gay Talese, Ian Hamilton, Harold Bloom, Roger Angell, A. Scott Berg, Robert Giroux, Ved Mehta, Gordon Lish and Tom Wolfe.
Synopsis
The reading public's curiosity about author J. D. Salinger's private life has grown even as his retreat into reclusiveness has deepened. Finally, biographer Paul Alexander has managed to tiptoe through the legal minefields that often surround such projects to give us Salinger: A Biography. Alexander draws upon published sources and personal interviews with more than 40 prominent literary figures, such as George Plimpton, Gay Talese, and Tom Wolfe, to offer this incisive look at Salinger the man, the author, and the icon. In this excerpt, Alexander examines Salinger's relationship with his father, a driven businessman who dreamed of joining the ranks of high society.
Kevin Grandfield
Many people, such as biographer Alexander, cannot understand J.D. Salinger's refusal to exercise his privilege of fame. The author of Catcher in the Rye has been holed up for decades in New England, living a celebrity's nightmare but a writer's dream: no outside contact, a writing bunker where he can retire for weeks on end and a string of pretty young wives. By eschewing society and all media, he has become the subject of many speculative biographies, and this one, like most, promises more than it delivers. Alexander only shows what can be found in the public record and in previous writings: Salinger's childhood, wartime breakdown and rare recent forays into public life. Amid his speculation and armchair psychology, Alexander does provide detailed directions to Salinger's house. But his thesis that Salinger is reclusive to cultivate curiosity about him and his work reflects Alexander's desires rather than Salinger's.
Editorials
From the Publisher
"The most comprehensive biography to date has been Paul Alexander's 'Salinger' (1999)...[it] is, to my mind, more dramatically vivid and psychologically astute."—Jay McInerney, The New York Times Book Review, Feb. 13, 2011“As good a biography of Salinger as we’re likely to get for awhile. Alexander…[has] succeeded in placing Salinger in the context of his times, and in finding in the author’s life seeds of inspiration for his fiction.”—BostonGlobe
“It is safe to say that Alexander will not be making any friends among the faithful by bringing us even closer to a man who wants to be known only as the creator of Holden Caulfield.”—New YorkMagazine
“Alexander has drawn an eerie portrait of an increasingly eccentric writer whose attempts to maintain his privacy [are] actually…a manipulative way of promoting himself and his books.”—Library Journal
“Alexander documents, among other things, Salinger’s nervous breakdown after World War II; his hatred of New York publishers; his hatred of Hollywood; and his ugly divorce from Claire Douglas.”—Liz Smith
“For hardcover fans, this biography is a must.”—TorontoSun
“Alexander’s volume is a major publishing event…A skilled investigative reporter, journalist, and biographer, Alexander surveyed numerous archives…to get his ‘story’…Strongly recommended.”—Choice