> OK i used to be on this thing but then I got off because it felt bad, > but then i read Ian Hamiltons little masterpiece and I was just > wondering ------ because of this SPEACH (yes, pallex, yes this is me) is > salinger a terrible guy? I mean, sense he's everyone in his books, that > DOES mean he's seymour, the poet-saint, which means he's better than the > rest of us, too, because writers write > for everyone, right? if anyone knows what i mean, PLEASE > RESPOND!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think many writers bring to the page some of who they are, and it's certainly possible that Salinger carries a little bit of Seymour in him, and a bit of Buddy, and a bit of the Fat Lady too. I don't know if he thinks he's "too good to even be a WRITER anymore," though it's certainly plausible that he became disgusted by the publicity antics of his time, and withdrew in disgust for that and other reasons. I think it's also safe to say that he's probably a complex man who carries plenty of contradictions in himself, as most of us do. I don't know enough about him to say more than that, other than to speculate. I don't know if he's a terrible man. Plenty of great writers have been bastards in real life, but many more bastards in real life have not turned out to be writers. He's just a guy like anyone else. He's not a god, or a Wise Man of the Mountain, or a prophet, although it's not surprising when people imagine that he is. As you gain more experience in life, I think you expect less god-ness in people who write wonderful stories or create other work we love. To note two people Salinger have mentioned -- Kafka and Van Gogh -- I love their work immensely, but I don't think I'd claim either was a saint, and I doubt I'd have wanted to pal around with either of them. I wouldn't have had the patience to cheer Franz through his gloom, and I wouldn't have had the energy to match Vincent. But I love their work, without needing to make more of them than they were. So it is with Salinger. Like a few other writers, he has written work that touched me, that moved me, and that in some way defined how I look at the world. But in the end, it's just wonderful work by a man I don't know. I'm not sure if that answers your question, but I've done my best. <*grin*> --tim o'connor