Work-in-Progress

NC-area novelist and writer Leslie Pietrzyk on the creative process and all things literary.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

The Salinger Letters: "Most stuff that is genuine, anyway, is better left unsaid"

A peek behind the curtain, where the Morgan Library in NYC is displaying some of Salinger’s letters. Read more commentary and excerpts (that I found to be sad and uncomfortable and oddly revealing) here at The New Republic:

“Salinger’s reputation has taken some hits, and critics remain divided over the ultimate value of his work. Perhaps the “scripts” that he was “picking at” for so many years will restore him as one of the great writers of postwar America. Or perhaps they will reflect the hermetic mind of an old crank who eschewed the “distraction of first-class friendship” to “stew” in his “own juice.” Regardless, they offer a view into the writing life of a man whose books—as the crowds at the Morgan attest—were deeply, personally important to his readers. That may not have been any of Salinger’s business, but it is ours.”
Leslie at 6:58 AM
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