Customer Reviews

In Search of J. D. Salinger, A Biography

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Although my primary motive for reading this book was research for a school paper, I was soon reading it for pleasure. The author's writing style is appealing, intelligent, and humorous. The comprehensive description and analysis of J.D. Salinger's life before he went into seclusion keeps the reader interested, not only in what Salinger did, but in how it was viewed by the world around him. Hamilton peppers the text with well-chosen quotes from both Salinger's works (both the well-known books and short stories as well as the lesser known short stories published by magazines) and from his contemporaries. Although Hamilton could not directly base his biography of Salinger off of an interview, his sources are well documented and believable.

The major problem with this book is that it only covers Salinger's life from 1919 to 1965. After this date, Hamilton only put a kind of resume of the trial that opposed him to Salinger. It sure is an interesting book to read, but there is way too much quotations and somehow you feel that you could've learned more. I suggest Paul Alexander's biography instead. It's more complete, even though he owes a lot to Hamilton who was one of the first to make profound researches about Salinger.

After recently beginning Paul Alexander's biography, I was delighted to stumble upon Ian Hamilton's cautious, yet entertaining, meta-biography. He doesn't dwell and gets on with his story. Hamilton does a great job of exposing the split personality of the biographer: as both neophyte and leech upon the creative world. Hamilton questions the validity of the "simplest" details of his subject's secret life. His honesty and reverence for Salinger result in a well-executed piece of writing; the best I've read anyway.

Take first the fact that you're reading a book about someone who did not want to be involved with this book at all. You could put that aside. After all, if a new Salinger book showed up without his permission, I guarantee I would snatch it up even as I complain about the publisher going against his wishes. Even if Hamilton's writing was the only thing lacking, you could probably get past that and seek out some interesting information on Salinger's life/work/etc., but it goes beyond just poor writing. There is nothing of real merit here as far as I can see. Why write a book that basically restates what you can find in an encyclopedia section on Salinger? When you simply restate that after a certain point not much is known over and over again or try to use the investigative journalism approach to gain readers' sympathy (think of all of the reporters who knock on the door and scream inside about the person avoiding the interview and although the clip is really a bore, it gets used because it backs up the viewpoint of that reporter). I am a huge Salinger fan, and I would have settled for a poorly written, unauthorized biography if I could have found something else of value underneath.

I picked up a copy of this book in a used book store recently. I remember reading reviews about the book and the "fair use" controversy when it was first blocked and then later revised and published. I'm glad I finally read it. Like Hamilton, I fell under Salinger's spell in my youth, and I enjoyed reading Hamilton's account of the Salinger attraction. It is true that Hamilton's stylistic affectation of carrying on "debates" with his alter ego "biographer" can be distracting at first, but I found some of the points he made about his conflicting views and motives while researching and writing the book instructive. In fact, Hamilton did a good deal of orignial research, turned up some valuable new information about Salinger, especially in letters that were not previously known, and wrote a fair and balanced account of the difficulties of writing a biography about a writer as complicated and contradictory as J.D. Salinger. This is a good book both for Salinger fans, and for those who just don't get the Salinger phenomenon. I came away with a better understanding of Salinger's appeal and of the neuroses that account for it. There were many moments when I found myself agreeing with Hamilton even when I had a somewhat different take on Salinger and his possible motives. But Hamilton allows for those differences and provides the evidence for arriving at them.

Like so many readers and fans of Salinger I too have had great curiosity about ' who he really is'. So when the Hamilton book came along I was eager to see what he had discovered that was not already well- known. Despite reservations I share with Salinger about the mistakeness of wanting to know more about the writer than his creation, I did have a look at this work, and learn some new things especially in relation to his family life.
But it was more on the level of the sordid than the inspiring. And it seemed to confirm the rightness of the attitude Salinger himself has religiouly promoted, that is of seperating work from life.
In any case Salinger's privacy would be hard put upon in later works especially the one by his daughter.
This work does however seem to point in a certain direction that is not so wonderful . It seems to suggest that Salinger in life is a far meaner and far less charmingly quixotic character than old Holden or even supiciously holy - Seymour.
In any case this is not the Salinger biography his fans have long been waiting for.

The book became a cause celebre when Salinger himself came out of hiding in 1984 to challenge Hamilton's right to quote from his unpublished letters, and his suit was upheld on appeal. The book, already in galleys, had to be rewritten and none of the trove of material that Hamilton had uncovered could be used. So what we're left with is a sketchy biography, that only goes up to 1965, the date of Salinger's last publication ("Hapworth 16, 1924"-the long story that's supposed to be republished as a book one of these years). But most anyone interested in Salinger will enjoy reading this book regardless. It's well written, objective, often funny, and creates a believable picture of the man. The definitive biography will be some time in coming-the outstanding question, of course, is what has he written (and saved) since 1965-but if you're looking for SOMETHING new about Salinger in the meantime, this is well worth your time.

Yeah, this biography is kind of weak but the subject is JD Salinger, at least Hamilton gives explanations for gaps in the story, its not totallyincoherent. Its really a biography and "Making of" the biography at the same time. Hamilton takes us along like a sluething companion. Even if you have sympathy for Salinger's privacy don't worry, so does our author--but his nosy alter-ego is a little less gracious. Despite what other harsh... critics have said, I did learn a lot of info on J.D. such as about his army days during WWII and his numerous short stories published in magazines during 40s and 50s (it'd be nice to take a look at those.)

Because Salinger is such a recluse, this psuedo-bio only covers his writing years (which ended in the early 60s). I found much of the detail on how Hamilton obtains his information interesting. He actually manages to get his hands on original copies of some Salinger letters written during this time. The quoted material from these letters ends up as a legal battle with the man himself (J.D.) which is really kind of dull and uninformative. It leaves a bad taste in your mouth if only because it reminds you that Salinger doesn't want us reading this tripe at all; a conundrum since most of you are probably reading it because you're a fan.

If you're a fan of Salinger's work, do not read this poor written biography. The best you can do is just read his marvelous books, and forget about the writer to focus on the writing.