For Esme - With Love and Squalor (Spanish Edition) (Paperback)

by J. D. Salinger (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
This is a collection of nine exceptional short stories from the author of "The Catcher in the Rye", J D Salinger. The book includes two of Salinger's most famous and critically acclaimed pieces, which helped to establish him among contemporary literary greats. The title story - a soldier's recollection of his meeting with a young girl, Esme, before being sent into combat - prompted a flood of readers' letters when it was first published in "The New Yorker in 1950". The haunting, "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" is the first of the author's many stories to feature the Glass family and follows eldest sibling, Seymour Glass, and his wife, Muriel, as they honeymoon in Florida.

Product Details

• Paperback: 150 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books; Revised edition (October 1998)
• Language: Spanish
• ISBN-10: 0140237534
• ISBN-13: 978-0140237535
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #445,196 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 'For Esme with Love and Squalor', March 17, 2006

By	Shalom Freedman "Shalom Freedman" (Jerusalem,Israel) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

For 'Esme with Love and Squalor' is one of Salinger's best stories. It also appears in his first collection of stories called 'Nine Stories.'
It tells the story of an American G.I. who for one part of the story is in Devon England where he is in training. On one lonely day off he goes into a tea-room and meets an English child and her small brother. Her name is 'Esme' and she is a precocious beautiful and sensitive child with whom the G.I. has a friendly, and somewhat from his point- of- view ironic conversation. The language is pure Salingerese. The little brother acts up and is chided by his sister. He recites a riddle , : What did one wall say to another" and hilariously gives the answer "Meet you at the corner" When the soldier returns the answer at his asking another time he gets upset. But at parting the soldier asks him the question and the little boy gets his spirit back by again giving the answer. More important the soldier and the little girl in some way assauge each other's loneliness. She is lonely for her father who has been lost in the war. He is lonely, lonely.
The scene then changes to an Army headquarters in the heart of the European theatre. The same soldier is on the verge of breakdown when he receives a letter from Esme , which somehow brings him back to a sense that there is something beautiful, whole , humane in the world, something worth living for.
The story of course must be read to be felt truly. My summary is poor. It is such a beautiful story.
I truly suggest you read it. "It will make you laugh. It will make you cry. And you will never forget it."

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Same book as Nine Stories..., May 3, 2008

By	George C. Cunningham Jr. - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Excellent book of short stories. Here's the deal as I understand it. This title was the English name for the book, "Nine Stories" because of the popularity of the Esme story in England. Either book is the same. Classic Salinger. His last long story published only in the New Yorker, is available on the New Yorker DVD collection which is very cheap online these days. Google it. Ciao.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Same as "Nine Stories"?, August 15, 2007

By	Justin Kisch - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As far as I can tell (based on a quick google search), this book has exactly the same contents as "Nine Stories." I highly recommend "Nine Stories," but I'm not sure why the publisher felt the need to re-release it under a different title. I would give it 5 stars, but it loses one for potentially misleading customers. Perhaps they wanted to capitalize on the buzz surrounding the band We Are Scientists, who released an album called "With Love and Squalor"?