I have always like TLM best of the 9 stories because its narrative dialectic (how the 2 stories affect each other's meaning) shows me how delicate the love of a teacher and hero really is--john gedsuski, the chief, really lets his kids down--never mind that "it's only a story," --when he croaks their hero, he violates his responsibility. Just because things go sour with mary hudson, he sours his relationship with his kids--the mark of a poor parent/teacher is that they protect children and gedsuski harms them, even if it's "only with a story." In other words, Salinger shows how much a part of life stories are for young folks, and how central their imaginations are to their well being...I keep a poppy petal in my favorite paper back copy of Nine Stories to make certain I will avoid telling hurtful stories...will