Muriel in S:AI
Peggy F. Jean-Louis (pfj6868@is.nyu.edu)
Mon, 15 Dec 1997 15:18:15 -0500 (EST)
I've often wondered about the passage in Seymour: An Introduction where
Buddy tells us that Muriel has forbidden him to reprint any of
Seymour's poems in his story, although she is allowing him to edit them
for subsequent publication. It never really fit in with my idea of Muriel.
If anything, it sounds like something her mother would tell her to do, in
order to protect her financial interest in the poems. What does everyone
else think?
Peggy
P.S. I've also always thought that it was a handy device Salinger used
that allows him to talk them up, so to speak, without having to actually
produce these world-class poems. Maybe he didn't trust himself to not
disappoint?