Re: hi everyone

Tim O'Connor (tim@roughdraft.org)
Wed, 08 Jul 1998 01:05:14 -0400 (EDT)

> Hi I am new to Bananafish. My name is Paula, I just thought I'd introduce
> myself. Can anybody tell me, about how many people are subscribed to this
> mailing list?

We have about 275 subscribers at present, though only a small number
actually posts; most of us are readers here, not contributors.

You can always review the list archives at:

	http://www.nyu.edu/acf/staff/oconnort/JDS/

> I look forward to hearing from you all soon! My first question.... who does
> everybody think Sergeant X is????? Waker???? Or maybe not a Glass at all?

I've occasionally imagined that X is really Buddy (if we want to pin the
tail on a Glass) or (more tantalizing) a thinly veiled portrait of the
author himself.  Certainly Sgt. X drops enough clues to make himself seem
to be the author in a none-too-subtle disguise.  I consider it tantalizing
because of the lengths to which Salinger has gone to hide behind the
theatrical masks of his other characters and narrators, while X is pretty
nakedly undisguised.  (I've never been able to imagine X's coal-black G.I.
filling and not think of it as a purely autobiographical detail.  Some
things are so concrete, it's hard to imagine them as anything but drawn
directly from experience.)

--tim o'connor