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A Reader's Companion to J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye

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4 Reviews
Coffeetown Enterprises, Incorporated, Sep 15, 2008 - Literary Criticism - 245 pages
Peter G. Beidler's Reader's Companion is an indispensable guide for teachers, students, and general readers who want fully to appreciate Salinger's perennial bestseller. Now nearly six decades old, The Catcher in the Rye contains references to people, places, books, movies, and historical events that will puzzle many twenty-first-century readers. Beidler's guide provides some 250 explanations to help readers make sense of the culture through which Holden Caulfield stumbles as he comes of age. It provides a map showing the various stops in Holden's Manhattan odyssey. Of particular interest to readers whose native language is not English is the glossary of more than a hundred terms, phrases, and slang expressions.In his introductory essay, “Catching The Catcher in the Rye,” Beidler discusses such topics as the three-day time line for the novel, the way the novel grew out of two earlier-published short stories, the extent to which the novel is autobiographical, what Holden looks like, and the reasons for the enduring appeal of the novel.The many photographs in the Reader's Companion give fascinating glimpses into the world that Holden has made famous. Beidler also provides discussion of some of the issues that have engaged scholars down through the years: the meaning of Holden's red hunting hat, whether Holden writes his novel in an insane asylum, Mr. Antolini's troubling actions, and Holden's close relationship with his sister and his two brothers.Readers of A Reader's Companion to J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye will wonder how they managed without it before.

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Review: A Reader's Companion To JD Salinger's The Catcher In The Rye

User Review  - Peyton - Goodreads

I wish I'd had this book when I was reading Catcher back in high school. I had no idea how big an influence it had been, not only on subsequent writers but on film as well. The Reader's Companion is ... Read full review

Review: A Reader's Companion To JD Salinger's The Catcher In The Rye

User Review  - Lauren Fidler - Goodreads

good overall resource for CITR. too bad i'm not teaching it this year. =( Read full review

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About the author (2008)

PETER G. BEIDLER is the Lucy G. Moses Distinguished Professor of English, emeritus, at Lehigh University. In a his long career, he has published more often in the Chaucer Review than any other scholar. He is the author of The Wife of Bath in the Bedford Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism series, Masculinities in Chaucer, and some twenty other books on various literary and pedagogical subjects. He was a Fulbright professor at Sichuan University in mainland China and as the Robert Foster Cherry Professor at Baylor University in Texas. The winner of several teaching awards, he was named national Professor of the Year in 1983 by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation. He now lives in Seattle, Washington.

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