Re: Salinger-related article in Sept/Oct 2002 BOOK magazine

From: Aaron Sommers <adsommers@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed Aug 21 2002 - 19:25:03 EDT

Tim,
Thanks for mentioning this article. I am in the process of tracking it down,
but it reminded me of the best letters-to-Salinger tale I've heard. It is in
regards to the two published pieces in 1970 and 1971 that were under the
name Giles Weaver. Now, I realize that this is the second time I have
mentioned rumoured J.D. Salinger publications and if it offends any people
than please forgive my speculative nature. I can't wait for more of his
literature and will not read Hapworth for fun. The alleged Salinger
publications are mentioned in the November/December 1985 Saturday Review if
you want to read the whole story. After an "investigation" by the author,
who came to the conclusion that Salinger MAY HAVE written a piece titled
"Further Notes From The Underground" (The Phoenix, Winter, 1970), a letter
is written to Salinger questioning him on the mysterious Giles Weaver. Soon
after, he is told by the editor of the Phoenix that not only is the author
of the "Underground" pieces a person who had "no interest in Salinger" he
has also "disppeared from the area". So, back then, Salinger must have read
his mail, if of course it was written to him and not his agent in NYC...

Best,

Aaron

>From: "Tim O'Connor" <oconnort@nyu.edu>
>Reply-To: bananafish@roughdraft.org
>To: bananafish@roughdraft.org
>Subject: Salinger-related article in Sept/Oct 2002 BOOK magazine
>Date: Wed, 21 Aug 2002 18:15:28 -0400
>
>
>I wanted to mention an odd little article in the September/October
>issue (on the newsstands now) of BOOK magazine, on page 58. Entitled
>"My Salinger Year," it is by Joanna Smith Rakoff and is a tale of a
>year (1996) when she worked for the Ober Agency and was given the task
>of replying to people who wrote to Salinger c/o Ober. It's an
>amusing, depressing, sort of flat little story about someone who is
>paid to sit in the skin of JDS and answer (some of?) his mail.
>
>She doesn't pretend to be him, though she admits that the idea to
>impersonate him crossed her mind. Instead, she explains to people who
>contact Ober how JDS doesn't accept letters from readers, and she
>improvises little responses to the people who want to meet Salinger,
>want to be Holden, want to be LIKE Holden, and want to be like Salinger.
>At least once she meets JDS when he makes a trip down to the city to visit
>his agent, to make sure that nothing changes about anything, including
>the appearance and presentation of his printed work. She says he is
>now mostly deaf and that he thrives on routine. She gets back some angry
>answers from people who can't understand her or what she does and who are
>bitter that their letters won't be passed along. (To give her credit,
>even she sometimes doesn't understand why she does what she does, except
>that it's a job, and, like most of us, she needs a job. She refers to
>the experience as "My Salinger Year" when she tells people about it,
>because she herself tried then, and still seems to be trying now, to make
>sense of it and of what she was doing with the work and with herself.)
>
>It's an eccentric and quirky article that is worth the effort to read.
>
>The magazine has a web site at www.bookmagazine.com. I had a quick --
>a very quick -- glance at the web site and don't seem to find any hint
>of the article, so you might indeed need to go check it out at your
>local newsstand (at least if you're in the U.S; I saw my copy at
>Barnes & Noble) or bookstore. Based on my look at the web site, I
>would guess that it hasn't yet been updated to reflect the latest
>issue. The cover on the present web site as of today (August 21,
>2002) shows last issue's cover. So, check back again in a few weeks,
>I guess.
>
>I don't know what you'll find; I admired the article, but at the same
>time I thought it kind of depressing, though that might be because I
>imagined myself working in that place, without even having a computer
>that could churn out the canned replies she did. Instead, she had to
>answer everything by hand on an old typewriter, the kind of daily task
>that, for me, would be enough to make me want to cut my throat.
>
>Based on what I was able to find, it appears as if Rakoff has moved on
>to more rewarding work teaching and working with apprentice writers.
>It's an odd and sad little story she tells of 1996, and well worth the
>time if you can come upon it.
>
>If I find an online copy, I'll pass the URL along. I know that
>magazines like this are often hard to find, both in the U.S. and
>outside the country.
>
>Cheers,
>
>--tim o'connor
>
>-
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Received on Wed Aug 21 19:25:06 2002

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