In Search of J. D. Salinger (Hardcover)

by Ian Hamilton (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
This embattled biography has been revised because of the legal suit Salinger instituted to stop publication, and the most valuable part of the book is Hamilton's proud and indignant exposition of those long proceedings, torturous to him and endangering, he feels, to Constitutional freedoms. At issue were Salinger's unpublished letters, and Hamilton is rightly disturbed by the fact that, in covering the case, newspapers and magazines were able to print the very correspondence he was restricted from using. He wonders: "Can we assume that the letters have been released into the public domain, that they are no longer 'unpublished' ? Would the Random House lawyers now let me put them back into my book?" The answer is no, and in its spelling out of Salinger's "writing life" (even in his original version, Hamilton only chronicled that life up to 1965, when Salinger stopped publishing), the biography is a dry, adequate chronology of publication dates and landmark events that lacks passion and driveperhaps the natural result of recounting a life so obsessively removed from engagement with the world. Within the text, Hamilton refers to himself and his biographer "alter ego" as "we," an affectation that distracts the reader.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
This work, scheduled for release in August 1986, was abandoned after Salinger successfully sued to enjoin publication on the grounds of copyright violation. This book is an attempt to salvage the biography and, at the same time, to describe the problems Hamilton faced in writing the life of an author who prefers to remain hidden. Ironically, Salinger's suit to crush the biography caused him to relinquish some of his cherished privacy. Moreover, Hamilton's account of Salinger's conduct during the legal battles actually reveals more of Salinger's character than the snippets of letters that appeared in the original work. Essential reading for anyone interested in Salinger. Highly recommended for all literature collections. William Gargan, Brooklyn Coll. Lib., CUNY
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 222 pages
• Publisher: Random House; 1st edition (May 12, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394534689
• ISBN-13: 978-0394534688
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #402,826 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A pleasure to read, April 19, 2000

By	Judith Hubbard (Ithaca, NY) - See all my reviews

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hamilton's quest for Salinger, February 10, 2005

By	Alex Roy (Montréal, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In Search of J D Salinger (Paperback)

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.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars In Search of a Quick Buck Instead of an Excellent Read, September 8, 2002

By	Wesley (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

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.