Re: Introduction....
Tim O'Connor (oconnort@nyu.edu)
Thu, 31 Jul 1997 16:38:02 -0400 (EDT)
> >Does anybody know Salinger's snail mail/fan mail address?
> >
> is that a joke? i just can't see the great recluse sorting through
> thousands of angst-ridden teen-age fan mail.
When Salinger provided testimony in a court case a few years ago, and
again when his longtime agent died, it emerged in the newspapers that
"fan mail" sent to his agent or his publisher was destroyed, unopened
and unread, at his request. I don't mean this facetiously at all, or
with any disrespect, but maybe the next best thing would be to really
focus on what it is about his work that you so admire, and post it in
the form of a meditation -- a mini-essay -- on the list. In some odd
way, I guess that is what so many of us do here, in our various ways.
The interesting aspect of such an effort: if you consider it in terms
of communicating with a wider audience of readers -- most of whom are
probably not people you know -- you'll be forced to think, carefully,
about why you are writing it and what you want to say in the letter.
And that challenge is what excites and scares most writers who sit in
front of a blank piece of paper or an empty computer screen!
If nothing else, perhaps you'll turn up a bit of useful material that
could be applied in school, or in another context that rears its head
in the future.
--tim o'connor