my maynard page post
WILL HOCHMAN (hochman@uscolo.edu)
Thu, 17 Sep 1998 09:31:48 -0600 (MDT)
Posted by will hochman on September 17, 1998 at 00:06:12:
After a long day teaching in Pueblo, I drove north
to Denver to hear Ms. Joyce Maynard read at the Tattered
Cover tonight. I let the long ride blend my memories
of having last made this journey to hear Richard Ford read
and how much I enjoyed his voice and story...and even to how
I had done a reading at the Tattered Cover five years ago...
I guess my timing back into the present was pretty decent.
I had just enough time to grab some "cawfee" (I'm always
a "new yawka" even when the yankees aren't winning!) and
catch_Sabbath's Theater_ in the bargain bin for 5.98--and
that's hardback first ed...but I'll get it on the way out,
I thought, and only now as I'm trying to get rid of feeling
tired enough to recollect that I realize it's really a book
from an older, male view in ways that may or may not
parallel
her experiences with Mr. J.D. Salinger.
The timing of my working my way through Denver's finest
and largest bookstore to the third floor was synchronous
with Ms. Maynard's arrival. We smiled at each other. I'm
used to large eyes--my wife's are at least--and in some ways
I quickly appreciated how easily the author smiled openly
with her eyes leading the way.
I took that as an omen to remove my lurking self from
the last row and sit front row to focus my attention on
the author. I'm a Salinger scholar who has no bone to
pick with Ms. Maynard. That's why I'm commenting now
though this isn't my first visit to this page. I'm glad to
have met her and experienced with dimension what I had
mostly read in the _Vanity Fair_ piece, the _NYTimes_
reviews,
the _Time_ piece, the _NYTimes Magazine_ piece, the _New
Yorker_
review and online.
I may have spent a lot of time and effort studying Mr.
Salinger' s fiction and the criticism that he generates,
but I'm also a writer and respect Ms. Maynard's
accomplishments
as a writer. Hat's off to anyone who finishes a book! I'm
a writing teacher and like to see words find good homes.
But I had to wonder about Ms. Maynard complaining about
all the advance publicity her book received...it seemed
liked her publisher wanted to hype the book and she may
not have been pleased with some of the spin on it...
Ms. Maynard also mentioned at the beginning of her reading
that she anticipated folks needing to vent and welcomed
discussion from a variety of points of view...and then she
read. I enjoyed her reading voice and watched her read
to an audience while also noticing her seeming to scan us
and read us.
I took notes, and also let her reading tell the story of
her relationship with "Jerry" Salinger, mostly just
wanting information for my book, (in progress)
_Salinger's Readers_(an ongoing process to rescue my
dissertation from academese!).
I was surprised by how familiar I was with every part
Ms. Maynard read from _At Home in the World_.
Either through excerpt or review, I
wasn't learning more about Mr. Salinger, though I was
pleased to learn more about the author in front of me
and feel at home in her narrative about her realtionship
to Mr. Salinger.
When she completed her reading, despite her insistence on
truth, I have to admit I wondered how honest she was...would
Mr. Salinger really greet her in a bathrobe? She had
descibed the expression I remember also seeing in a l989
NY Post Cover photo of Mr. Salinger...would he set himself
for such pathos by wearing a bathrobe? I'm getting hung
up on a detail, I think...as I also make myself clear about
not wanting to get in a dog and cat fight but to learn as
as I can with a public question or two. (But she does stress
noticing small things and caring about them...)
I tried to phrase my question softly, gently probing to find
news of those Salinger manuscripts Ms. Maynard mentions in
her book...unfortunately, Ms. Maynard took off on a straw
man attack about how she was the subject of the book and
she needed it clear how her need to tell this story
is her story...I managed to reply explaining that her
entire reading that night was about Salinger...but the
dichotomy that surfaced most seemed to be who will you
listen to--"The Great Writer" or "The Truth Woman"?
I have to admit that I am not much of a reporter. My wife
is one and I'm more of a poet (if you want the poet's
"report," my latest are at http://members.spree.com/writer/)
So I don't remember how I got more involved with Ms.
Maynard's
q&a, but I do remember her carping about Mr. Salinger not
being fond of his readers. After Ms. Maynard trying make
me a straw man/Salinger protector, I had to at least say
he may not be kind to his readers in person, but it's on
the page where his kindness matter most. I do love Mr.
Salinger's
writing--and I also love writing--and both make me know
this screen or page is where I'm at.
I think Ms. Maynard was gracious to me despite our clashing
sensibilities and am grateful for the chance to really
learn.
Those who say she shouldn't write her words because of
another
author are denying what every author needs and each must
give
to help others...the spark, the ability, the magic of making
words into lines on pages of a book.
I wish I could have talked more with Ms. Maynard, which is
what I'm doing here. I love the web and email, though at
one point I think she believed I don't...ironic since I work
hard at my school to deliver good electrons...you can even
play in my web page
http://www.uscolol.edu/english/faculty/hochman.html
but the real point is that Ms. Maynard was apologetic enough
for me so that after the reading and discussion she sort of
let me corner her into visiting "bananafish," an email list
concerned with Mr. Salinger and his fiction. I think it's
wrong to corner anyone into a list, but just in case Ms.
Maynard or anyone reading this is curious,
TO JOIN
=======
Send mail to:
listproc@lists.nyu.edu
Subject line can be left blank. (It will be ignored by
listproc.)
Body should have only one line, where FIRSTNAME LASTNAME =
your name
(e.g., Will Hochman):
subscribe bananafish FIRSTNAME LASTNAME
seeya there, will hochman