I guess this is what I meant about Salinger's self-reflexive tendency. He he doesn't even bother trying to make *us* laugh - he tries to make his characters laugh! Sometimes I think Salinger doesn't exist at all any more. But Buddy Glass does. J J R wrote: > nah, it's not that. I don't think those examples you chose were > necessarily meant to generate belly laughs from readers. I think they > were examples of how the male character interacted with the female > character (in both cases). It was something that would be funny **to > her**. Not necessarily to anyone else Camille verona_beach@geocities.com @ THE ARTS HOLE www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Theater/6442 @ THE INVERTED FOREST www.angelfire.com/pa/invertedforest