breaking news
Scottie Bowman (bowman@mail.indigo.ie)
Mon, 09 Feb 1998 08:27:55 +0000
In order to allay the evident anxieties of list-members I can
now reveal that Salinger has moved to Ireland & is living here
with me & my family in County Cork. He has, in fact, been
with us for several years. All that stuff about New York state
was a cover story - one in which Mr Salvaggio has played a
splendidly convincing role.
You'll all be delighted to learn that the great man is in excellent
health & spirits. I'm reluctant (as you'll appreciate) to go into
too many details of his personal life, though he seems very eager
for me to do so. I've asked him to think it over at leisure before
I embark on further revelations.
We have only a rather modest suburban home but I've been able
to provide him with a small wooden shed at the end of our garden
& he goes out there first thing each morning & types away until
I bring him back into the house around 7 in the evening.
He asks me to check his production at the end of each day's work.
He still insists on a remorseless use of the lower case in the
manuscript but accepts with good grace my corrections of grammar
& spelling. He keeps asking me for suggestions - snappy phrases
for dialogue, modern images to liven up his metaphors & so on -
& seems excessively grateful when I make these. In all modesty,
I think the new book will show the benefit of our joint efforts.
The novel itself is now approaching its 4,000th page. In its scope
& tone it evokes most nearly a kind of modern `A la Recherche du
Tom Purdoo'. I've no idea when he will think fit to release it.
Sometimes when I see him staggering in at the end of the day
with yet another boxful of paper I think it might be a kindness to
whisk it all away & set fire to the shed. I've promised myself,
though, not to give way to this impulse but to ponder it long -
& report back to the list for final guidance.
Scottie B.