RE: Salinger's bad influence

Sean Draine (seandr@Exchange.Microsoft.com)
Wed, 05 May 1999 15:55:42 -0700 

Maybe cigarettes aren't all bad. Sure, they might decrease the quantity of
your life, but what about quality? I can remember certain cigarettes at
certain times that I wouldn't trade for anything...

The thing I loved most about smoking was the incomparable joy a cigarette
would bring when you're in the tremoring grip of a nicotine withdrawal.
Maybe you had to spend the entire day with Grandma, who would just die if
she knew you smoked. Or maybe you ran out of butts on the last day of that
camping trip. When at last the chance comes, you find a suitable location --
I recommend somewhere with some altitude, like a fire escape or a rooftop --
take fire to leaf, and breath deeply. You are content.

-Sean

P.S. Of all of the reasons to take up smoking, Zooey ranks among the best. 



-----Original Message-----
From: Thor Cameron [mailto:my_colours@hotmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 05, 1999 2:38 PM
To: bananafish@lists.nyu.edu
Subject: Re: Salinger's bad influence


Are you kidding?  I've read books about Rock climbing, deep sea fishing, and

shooting herion.  I've never done any of those.  You don't protect by 
sheltering children.  You protect by teaching them to find things as 
distateful as you do.

Thor


>
>I'm worried about the bad influence Salinger's work might
>have on teenagers. I am of course talking about the
>cigarettes. In like 90 % of his stories people are
>always smoking like crazy. Just think of all those
>poor stupid little impressionable teenagers who might
>start smoking after reading Catcher or other stories. So
>I've come up with an idea. In future editions of
>Salinger's work, someone should edit out all the
>cigarettes and replace them with lollipops. This would
>in no way take away from the meaning and content of
>the story but it would be much healthier. For instance,
>Esme could go something like this:
>
>    ...Sergeant X took a lollipop and stuck it in his mouth.
>    He licked it but didn't taste anything. He had been
>    chain-licking lollipops for weeks...
>
>But then again, lollipops are bad for your teeth, so
>that might be a bad influence too. Maybe we could use
>fruit or vegatables? Cabbage maybe?
>
>On a similar note, for those who are worried about the
>profanity in Catcher, we could edit that out too.
>Instead of Holden saying 'Goddamn' all the time he
>could maybe say 'Golly' or 'Oh darn'.
>
>Just a thought...
>
>
>                                        -Grant-
>
>
>"Just because you're paranoid
>  don't mean they're not after you"
>                       K. Cobain
>
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