Subject: "A Perfect Day For A Reissue"
Hotspur8@aol.com
Date: Tue Feb 25 1997 - 17:50:54 GMT
In a message dated 97-02-25 16:04:21 EST, you write:
<< Is Salinger really publishing a new book?
Does anyone know the story behind this?
>>
my older sister out in North Carolina just sent an article on "Hapworth"--
ripped out of a magazine unknown to me-- but nonetheless i thought i might
share...
>From the Book Section of the aforementioned "Unknown Magazine";-- however i
think it might be Entertainment Weekly from a mention of "(EW)" in the
article...
[at the top of the page it reads]:
J.D. SALINGER COMES OUT OF HIDING-- SORT OF
[Title]: A Perfect Day For Reissue
Something old is new again for the famously elusive writer. By Alexandra
Jacobs
[A black & white picture of JD provided by The Salinger Archive Photos]
[Two of his original published hardback covers are featured, photoed by David
Lawrence; 1. the "catcher" cover is red with a horse from the Merry-Go-Round
mentioned in the novel & 2. the "nine stories" cover is: top-half red,
bottom-half blue with thin white lower case script of title and author]
After 34 years, reclusive Catcher in the Rye author J.D. Salinger is finally
coming out with a new book. Only it isn't, strictly speaking, quite so new.
The tiny Alexandra, VA., outfit Orchises Press has been mysteriously
authorized to reissue Salinger's last published work: an epistolary novella
entitled "Hapworth 16, 1924" that the New Yorker printed in 1965.
Publisher and agent, presumably under strict orders from the notoriously
publicity-shy Salinger, colluded to keep the imminent publuciation as low-key
as possible, captiulating only after a sharp-eyed fan espied a telling entry
among online book peddler Amazon.com's listings. "Why don't you just leave
this one out of (EW), if that's okay?" implores querulous-sounding Orchises
editor Roger Lathbury, whose past reprints include works by Tolstoy and W.H.
Auden. Agent Phyllis Westberg confirms only that a deal was made. And
Salinger? Please. Now, 78, he lives in rural New Hampshire, granting
interviews to no one; last year he directed minions to shut down a devotee's
website. [EXCUSE ME!! "Minions"?!!]
But the prospect of even this warmed over-offering has thrilled many of his
acolytes. Previously they had to make do with photocopies of "Hapworth",
which takes the form of a letter from precocious summer-camp attendee Seymour
Glass. Soon they'll be able to own an edition that, fitting previous
Salinger specifications, will boast no cover art and no author photo.
Borders fiction buyer Matthew Gildea says that though "we will definitely
order it", the number of copies will be determined by the book's final
appearence, price, and contractual restrictions on how it may be displayed--
matters that, not surprisingly, have yet to be disclosed to the publisher.
[End of article.]
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