With Love and Squalor: 14 Writers Respond to the Work of J.D. Salinger Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy With Love and Squalor: 14 Writers Respond to the Work of J.D. Salinger? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on With Love and Squalor: 14 Writers Respond to the Work of J.D. Salinger. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

With Love and Squalor: 14 Writers Respond to the Work of J.D. Salinger ReviewIt was a pleasure to see a book published about J.D. Salinger's writing as opposed to a tell-all about the famous recluse. The editors sent the call out to young (or youngish) writers for their take on JDS.
Essays by Walter Kirn and Renee Steinke were delightful views of meeting up with Holden Caulfield from an entirely different background than the New York, prep, affluent Salinger character. Mr. Kirn hails from a small town in MN and thought of Holden as a dashing sophisticated fellow while Ms. Steinke is a preacher's daughter from Friendswood, TX and saw Holden as a fellow outsider. These were fond and enlightening essays that showed "Catcher in the Rye" was without boundaries.
Lucinda Rosenfeld's "The Trouble With Franny" takes an in-depth look at Franny Glass and how perceptions change when rereading as an adult. John McNally does an excellent job in discussing and illustrating the minor characters in JDS's work and how perfect the brevity and broad brush make even once-mentioned characters memorable. Co-editor Thomas Beller made me think about what it's like to live in "Salinger Weather," a closely reasoned, brilliant piece written with brio! Jane Mendelsohn has an achingly sensitive article, "Holden Caulfield: A Love Story," about how her first take on Holden was a romantic crush, but deepened into a bemused love as she gradually saw the tragedy and despair of Holden.
According to the Introduction, the writers were given carte blanche. Herein lies a problem. Some of the essayists took this to mean a great deal of talk about themselves with the merest nod to J. D. Salinger. One contribution was a fairish "New Yorker" type short story that had the heroine carrying a copy of "Franny & Zooey" as the sole link that I could see to the author. Another most unpleasant young lady was very proud of being young (a temporary condition at best), and allowed as to how she might give Holden a go.
As all the writers are professionals, I was unhappy with the amount of self-indulgence displayed in some (but not all) of the articles. Almost all of the writers were introduced to Salinger as required reading in the 8th or 9th grade. Perhaps that is part of the problem. Discovery by oneself is a much more powerful way to meet a new author, and your insights are your own.
The five excellent essays and a couple more I would rate as good workmanlike jobs make "With Love and Squalor" a good choice for a true Salinger lover.With Love and Squalor: 14 Writers Respond to the Work of J.D. Salinger Overview

Want to learn more information about With Love and Squalor: 14 Writers Respond to the Work of J.D. Salinger?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now