With Love and Squalor, For Esme

This book of short stories is very different from J.D. Salinger's previous works, it touches on human emotion and passion. While the stories are beautiful written and well thought it is the last story "Teddy" that catches the greatest human sentiment and feeling of all.

I became engrossed by JD Salinger after having read the biography that accompanied the televised documentary. Having immersed myself in both, I came to a conclusion that it seemed everyone else had reached but no one wanted to articulate: Salinger was a dirty old man, who hid his lust for younger and younger women behind the facade of some obscure sort of Eastern religion (I mean no disrespect to the religion, but I mean plenty of disrespect to the way Salinger applied it to his life and thinking). I could not escape this interpretation of Salinger in any of his stories. Thus, the reading was not always comfortable. One could argue that the release of the biographies was intended to stir interest in some supposed upcoming releases of material that Salinger had directed be published posthumously. Perhaps...but I think I'll pass. .

I ordered this book simply for the story "Teddy". I don't even know if I care about the remaining 8 stories, I know I read them long ago but was so blown away by Teddy that I've forgotten everything else. By far of everything I've ever read Austin, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Vonnegut, etc. Teddy is the best.

The book is incredible, with each of the short stories more interesting than the last. However, when I received the product, it appeared to have a long cut along the edge of the cover, with several pages cut underneath as well. I recommend the book, but not from this seller.

Perhaps one of the reasons I never cared for Catcher in the Rye was that I came to it after reading Salinger's Nine Stories, which in every way seems much superior. These stories work in a way that many collections of short stories by a single author don't, because of a unified tone and single vision that is at once both bleak and yet sympathetic to what is fundamental in the human condition.
I first read this collection more than 30 years ago and have reread all the stories numerous times with great pleasure. It is a shame that Salinger retired so early, but even if he had left nothing but this one short collection of stories, he would have secured a place among the significant writers of the 20th century. Through a style that is disarmingly simple and direct, he manages to touch reader's feelings deeply. And while in his later Glass family novels he slips into a kind of 'cute' self parody, these stories are deftly crafted with no misstep to be seen.
This is art that doesn't refuse to have a human heart.

This is your typical Salinger cut into bite size pieces. Most noted for The Catcher in the Rye, we have come to love Salinger's representation of repressed angst and moral conflict. His favorite audience is the rich Americans of the 1940s and 50s who, despite being surrounded by all that life can offer, are singularly depressed and feel like their lives are unfulfilled.

Nine Stories is just that, nine short stories that reflect an age that should have taught us that money can't buy happiness. It, according to Salinger, oftentimes just breeds mental incapacity and sadness, and these stories represent them. He also, a very popular trend for the period, touches on PTSD and the art of how war can just ravage a perfectly good life and mind. He doesn't hold back with glimpses into a young woman's life who is a drunk, abuses the help, and has found herself devoid of compassion towards her husband and daughter to settle for minor comforts.

Even his more pleasant stories make us uncomfortable due to the resonant undertones of distaste and dislike for simply living. Perhaps one of his saddest stories is the last, focused on a ten-year-old child genius who seems to culminate all the problems of the world inside of himself.

As always, he uses his typical writing style and perfectly reflects dialogue as it should sound and not the perfect sentences often delivered by realistic fiction. His words are chosen carefully in his descriptions, and though simple and easy to follow, leaves us wondering the furthest reaches of each sentence.

This review is not about the content of this book, it is about what you get if you order this title with 'library binding'. I ordered this as a gift. I thought I would receive a hard-cover book with nice type face, nice paper and a dust jacket. What I got was a cheaply printed paperback on cheap pulp with a stupid, cheap cover and no dust jacket. Just awful. I'm going down to Barnes and Noble and see what they sell and will probably return this trashy product.

My guess is that the paperback edition would be more presentable as a gift than this sorry excuse.

JD Salinger is well known for his book, The Catcher in the Rye, which I read in high school and liked, which is why I chose to read this book. As the title suggests, this book is a collection of nine short stories by JD Salinger. I liked these stories and the feel that you get from them. The book was published in 1953 and gives you a good feel of the time period and the differences in attitudes and dialogue between then and now. My only criticism, although at the same time it acted as a strength, would be that some of the stories did end abruptly and felt somewhat premature leaving me wondering what happened next. I did however come to appreciate this as a strength of the stories. Overall, I would highly recommend this book.
Perhaps one of the things I like most about these stories was the strong use of dialogue which I felt greatly added to the mood and feel of the stories. Sometimes in fiction, too much dialogue can take away from a story, but in these stories, I felt it helped give a better appreciation of the time period, the people talking, and the roles people have in various relationships. When people converse with each other, we use dialogue to portray a certain image, and one of the things that I think makes these stories so great is that J.D. Salinger does that but allows the characters true self to slip through the cracks at times.
One of the trends in dialogue that threw me off at first, but I came to really appreciate by the end, is the way characters tend to repeat themselves while talking. For example, in the story ‘Just Before the War with the Eskimos’, the main character says “Well, I mean did you ever phone her up or anything? I mean didn't you ever phone her up or anything?" This is an example of how the stories give an insight of how people of this time period interacted with each other which I found very intriguing. The dialogue gives a sense of how formal, yet at the same time personal interactions were between people, whether they were old friends or meeting for the first time.
The overall feeling of all nine stories is fairly dark, although most of them start off feeling fairly light. It is set by the first story, ‘A Perfect Day for Banana Fish’, where you are contemplating the true nature of the character Seymour. The opening scene, a conversation between Seymour’s wife and her mother, call into question Seymour’s sanity. When it cuts to Seymour and his interaction with a young child alone on the beach, your left wondering if he might be a pedophile, and the story ends abruptly and surprisingly with him completing suicide next to his sleeping wife in the hotel room where the story started.
The theme of all of the stories is people getting tripped up in the trivialities of life, and through it all, perhaps trying to get back the feeling of innocence from childhood that adults lose. This is shown well in the second story, ‘Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut’. Two women who had been college roommates get together at one of their houses to socialize. As the two continue to drink and catch up on gossip, they talk about their lives and husbands and how easy things were when they were younger. It becomes clear that Eloise, whose house they are at, is unhappy with her seemingly nice life and marriage, reminiscing on an old flame that got away and the simplicity of younger days.
Lastly, what I think makes these stories so strong is that they do seem to end abruptly, in one case right in the middle of scene. While at times it did leave me wondering what happened next, by the end of all the stories I came to really appreciate it. What I think makes these so special is that Salinger can tell a story about an individual, and in the case of ‘Just Before the War with the Eskimos’, make it just a sixty-minute segment of someone’s life, yet still show character change. Sometimes no background is given as to how the characters got to the moment they are in, no history of their relationship. However, this adds to the quality of the stories. Hints are usually given through the story, but even if they are not, it does not take away from it and leave you feeling confused.
In conclusion, by the time I finished this book, I came to really love the feeling I got from all nine of the stories. I appreciated the use of dialogue and the depth that Salinger was able to create.

Salinger's cultish-like following has perhaps led to sporadic overpraise. That being said, I believe that Nine Stories is illustrative of the late author's greatness, and shows why his praise is justified. Salinger explores various issues: alienation, the effects of war on individuals, coming of age. The lessons learned in some of these stories aren't always in plain view, and, while it can be frustrating sometimes to read stories where you must "fill in the gaps", it can also be a rewarding experience when you see a semblance of moral or theme attached. Yes, this collection has its flaws--some of the "tales" here appear to more character vignettes than definite stories--but the precision with which Salinger writes and narrative voice he captures is undeniable.

Salinger is not typical in his approach. There is always an underlying level of meaning working; if you read his stories just at surface level they probably won't make much sense. Still, Salinger has such exact words, with both dialogue and narrative: the simplest moment can take on profound significance. The staying power of his tales is impressive; some of the conclusions stay with you, or hit you in a way unexpected. With Salinger, you cannot take any moments off; your brain must constantly be looking for meaning. Some readers might not want to venture or do this "extra" work, but I find it rewarding.

As far as the collection, I guess I differ from most in that I found "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" rather depressing and dreary. The story opens with a woman (Seymour's wife) and her mother yapping on the phone about trivial matters, and then shifts to Seymour. Apparently suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Seymour converses with a girl on the beach where he characterizes and describes a mythical creature known as the Bananafish. The Bananafish signifies the state of deterioration in Seymour's world. The ending, a bit shocking, underscores the devastation of Seymour's condition.

Here are some of my favorites: ** some spoilers ahead
"The Laughing Man"--An unnamed narrator tells of a time when, as a kid and a member of the Comanche Club, his team would travel on the bus to go play baseball. The bus' driver, nicknamed Chief, entertains the kids by recalling installments of fictional story about a deformed hero, The Laughing Man, who is a sort of Robin Hood type. The kids on board are in awe of this hero; there is a sense that each wants to be like him in some way. The Laughing Man narrative is pretty much the "story within the story", and The Laughing Man's fate coincides with the Chief's relationship with a beautiful woman who rides with the team one day. The story seems to have an underlying theme of camaraderie and coming of age that was enjoyable. This is probably my favorite of the stories.

"Just Before the War With the Eskimos"--Ginnie Mannox and Selene Graff regularly play tennis but Ginnie has had to pay her cab fare on the way back from the courts for several days. She decides to confront Selene about this; Selene gets upset about it, but agrees to pay her back. They go up to Selene's house so Selene can get the money. While Ginnie is waiting, she meets Selene's brother, Franklin, a dropout who apparently can't enlist because he has a heart problem. He begins to rant and rave about how much he despises Ginnie's sister, who he labels a "snob." It is evident that he had feelings for her. Ginnie tries to defend her sister and the two argue. Eventually, after they talk awhile, he offers Ginnie a sandwich, which she turns down initially, but eventually accepts. A friend of Franklin's comes to the door, and then Selene comes back with the money. Ginnie has a change of heart about wanting Selene's money, but it is left to the reader to determine what causes this change.

"For Esme--With Love and Squalor"--I found this to be one of the more complex stories in the collection. An American solider, while sitting in a café, meets an intelligent thirteen year old French girl (Esme) and her little brother. They converse for a few minutes. The solider (later to be known as Sergeant X) and Esme agree to correspond with each other, and she leaves telling him she hopes he comes back with "his facilities intact." From here, the narration shifts, as Sergeant X, now in the hospital, writes about himself in the third person, and it is clear that the war is over and he has suffered some type of mental breakdown. A fellow comrade comes in and speaks to him for a few minutes while he is in the hospital, and, after he leaves, he picks up a letter Esme had written to him previously, presumably after D Day. Within the contents, Esme has also sent him a watch, which she says is resistant to water and damage. However, Sergeant X sees that the watch is damaged. Because of Sergeant X's mental state, he has lost track of this promise to correspond with Esme. This story emphasizes the issue of war and its devastating effects.

"De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period"--A young man whose mother has recently died lives with his stepfather. Unhappy with his living predicament, the young man sees an ad for an art instructor in Montreal, and he applies, embellishing and exaggerating much of his resume in order to get the job. There are various comical accounts from the man at his new job, as he has two hapless artists under his wing. He also has another student, Sister Irma, whose work he finds amazing. The story really is less about the narrative and more about the man's epiphany, which occurs late in the story. In a non-direct way, this story is about being true to oneself, and that is what the young man's awakening snaps him into.

Overall, this is a great collection for Salinger fans and a nice sampling for those who haven't read this author.

Also issued as 'For Esme with love and squalor'. One of my favourite books, this FANTASTIC collection of short stories is in turn tragic and hilarious, notably in 'the laughing man'. The narrator recalls belonging to a boys' club in his childhood where the youthful 'Chief' would regale the children in his care with the far-fetched but thrilling saga of a heroic character called the laughing man. This individual had given most of his fortune away to monks ('humble ascetics who had devoted their lives to raising police dogs') whiler he subsisted on rice and eagles' blood in a tiny cottage with an underground gymnasium on the stormy coast of Tibet. The Chief subsequently has a short-lived romance, but after it comes to an end (made all the more touching by the fact we only witness it through the child's eyes) he abruptly winds up the narrative. The laughing man hears his pet wolf is dead and himself refuses the lifesaving vial of eagles' blood. After all the humour the end is particularly sad. BRILLIANT writing

Rereading this collection I am struck by the way JD Salinger and New York writers for the 40's and 50's in general have this strange datedness and yet currency simultaneously. The cocktails, dress, makeup, and courtship rituals, and of course the war set them more remote from us than say Victorian authors, perhaps they are so close and yet not quite here. But A Perfect Day for Bananafish still packs a punch even when you know its coming. The rest of the stories are just as compelling. I think Salinger as much as any author I know drags the reader into the story forcing them to fill in the context, finish the tale, and hear the unspoken background. I suspect this quality will end up keeping Salinger in larger numbers of readers after Roth, Cheever and Updike have faded.