Subject: Re: Two Questions
From: Cecilia Baader (ceciliabaader@yahoo.com)
Date: Mon Aug 20 2001 - 23:16:48 GMT
--- Will Hochman <hochman@southernct.edu> wrote:
> Cecilia, I swear your posts are so fine I'm going to make it a
> priority, a damn priority I tellya to root for the Cubs (if I have to
> root for a National league team)
Oh, Will. We do need all the fans we can get, here in August. April,
you see, is the cruellest month, breeding pitchers out of the dead land,
mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull bats with spring training. June
and July surprised us ... we stopped in the ballpark and went on in the
sunlight ... But now it is August, horrid August, and I will show you
fear in a handful of dust.
> I really enjoyed Ms. Spiritual Wonder of Chicago's
> comments on JM...
You know, I have to tell you, I really appreciate it that you didn't
call me Miss Spiritual Tramp of 2001.
> I too feel as though past loves and lovers are not
> viable non-fiction subjects in most cases...if I were clever, I could
> play off the "The Heart of a Broken Story" and write about the time
> I and Cecilia almost fell in love...if only they had buses in
> Chicago.
Oh, but in the Chicago where they have no buses, you're the cleverest
thing going. Just look at the above paragraph if you're searching for
any kind of truth, oh will, sweet will, dear lower-case will.
> The cartoon has two guys
> eyeing a passing female and the caption reads "I think I'd like to
> meet her but I can't decide if she's 19, 39, or 45." The story is
> titled and the subtitle reads "The only real difficulty in concocting
> a boy-meets-girl story is that, somehow, he must."
I loved this little detail. What a perfect cartoon to go with the
story. This is why actually finding the stories in the original
magazines is so meaningful. Tiny little details like this.
> She wants to visit and is afraid he's fallen for a
> prettier version of herself..."I'm no raving beauty. Please write me
> when you're allowed to have visitors. I'd like you to take a second
> look at me. I'd like to be sure that you didn't catch me at a phony
> best."
Even at his youngest, Salinger was able to pick up on crazy little
truths like the one you've quoted above. The need, in a non-contact
relationship, to have the other person view you properly, in reality, at
a non-phony best.
Sometimes I think that I like the rawness in his earlier fiction the
best, the rough talent. It breathes, I guess. The Babe Gladwaller
stories are simply incredible. Sometimes I think that these are the
real stories, before all the smoke and mirrors got in the way.
But then I get another gander at Zooey Glass and ... well, you know how
I feel about old Zooey.
Regards,
Cecilia.
(Finally able to answer a few emails.)
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