see more glass
patrick flaherty (pfkw@email.msn.com)
Tue, 07 Jul 1998 11:14:37 -0400
hello. my name is patrick flaherty. i have just today begun my
subscription on the bananafish mailing list. i was pleasently surprised to
find 16 new messages on my e mail this morning. i really look forward to
some enlightening discussions on jd salinger. i first read The Catcher in
the Rye at the age of 14 and i haven't been the same since. i will always
feel indebted to my English teacher, Mr. Billy Marshall, for handing me the
book and saying, quite simply, "read."
the fact that salinger has become obscure and has stopped publishing is
distressing to me. i would very much like to read new words from him.
however, i am thankful for the relatively small body of work that mr.
salinger did publish. as i said, The Catcher changed me the first time i
read it and it continues to every time i re-read it. it is not an
adolescent novel, only appreciated by teenagers. it is a book for all. his
other work is also among my favorite works of literature, especially Nine
Stories. my favorite in that collection being For Esme' With Love and
Squalor.
A bit about myself. i am currently taking my first graduate course in the
American and New England Studies program at the University of Southern Maine
in Portland, ME. I have a bachelor's degree in English Education from
Plymouth State College in Plymouth, NH. By trade, I am a bartender. I
enjoy the restaurant business. However, i am still trying to figure out my
"calling". i know that i will, most likely, go into teaching in the near
future. but, not unlike Holden Caulfield, i have my doubts about what i
want to do with my life.
my class is ending in a week and a half. at that time i will be able to
devote more attention to this mailing list. would anyone care to begin a
discussion on Catcher or possibly Nine Stories in a few weeks? maybe we
could all agree on certain guidelines as far as when to discuss ch 1, and so
forth. i don't know, this is quite new, i guess i'm always in need of a
"reading list". if anyone else out there can sympathize with my need for
structure, please get back to me.
yours in good literature,
Patrick Flaherty
pfkw@msn.com