It is always good to receive news from Slightly Foxed. The book that caught my eye this time was called ‘My Salinger Year’ written by Joanna Rakoff. It is a memoir of a year spent working in an esteemed literary agency in New York City in the 1990s. The author was an intern, an assistant to the senior agent. She knew nothing about what went on in such a place, lied about her typing ability and loved it all.
She discovered that the most important client of her boss was J.D. Salinger, always referred to in whispers as ‘Jerry.’ There were many rules about Jerry: you did not phone him or ask him questions, you NEVER gave out his phone number or address and you never forwarded his fan mail (which arrived daily in sack loads.) Salinger was known to be a recluse. He built a wall around his estate in New Hampshire, he never gave interviews or talks and he certainly was not going to enter into correspondence. Thus Joanna deals with the mountains of mail, using a simple pro forma letter. The letters virtually always are about ‘The Catcher in the Rye.’ Letters from Vietnam veterans, knowing that Salinger had served in the war, letters from teenagers who felt that at last they had found someone who understood them, letters from aspiring writers and from worried parents of teenagers. Sometimes there were follow up letters as people could be furious that their letter had indeed not been forwarded. On occasions Joanna gets drawn in and replies personally, which usually turns out to be a bad idea.
I loved this book, which was really interesting and beautifully written. It inevitably led me on. I hadn’t read ‘Catcher in the Rye’ for about 50 years so I returned to it, reading quite a handsome Penguin copy that I noticed has no illustration on the cover. Salinger had dictated that this be the case although I think some publishers go against his wishes these days. It is such a strange book, that I don’t really like although I can appreciate the skill involved. It is still one of the most frequently read contemporary American novels, continues to sell in the millions and has never been out of print. Holden Caulfield, the boy who tells his own story obviously resonates with very many people.
Realising that I hadn’t a clue what the title means, I looked it up. It is actually taken from a poem by Robbie Burns, and is slightly misquoted. The ‘rye’ is though simply a field of rye.
All rather useless information but I enjoy researching these sorts of things and I enjoy knowing!
So, I then realise I am on a literary journey of sorts. I will dip into some Salinger that will be new to me: ‘Franny and Zooey’ first I think and then, looking up Joanna Rakoff, there is more. ‘A fortunate age’ will flop through the letterbox shortly … another memoir. She seems to be a very interesting writer of poetry as well as memoir, I like her style.
Lastly, surfing around this area on my iPad I find there is a film of ‘My Salinger Year’ with Sigourney Weaver as the agent. However this film was imagined to be commercially viable I really don’t know but it is truly delightful, I loved it.
A journey then that is not complete, but anyway it is supposed to be the actual travelling that is the most enjoyable part isn’t it?
A joy. All of it, a real joy.