A Reader's Guide to J. D. Salinger

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Bloomsbury Academic, Nov 30, 2002 - Literary Criticism - 288 pages

Few contemporary writers are as enigmatic as J. D. Salinger. Best known for The Catcher in the Rye, which continues to be read and discussed by secondary school students, undergraduates, and scholars, Salinger also wrote numerous shorter works. This reference covers his entire oeuvre. Since Salinger's life figures prominently in his works, an introductory essay considers autobiographical elements in his writings and foregrounds the chapters that follow. Subsequent chapters examine each of his major works, or a collection of related writings.

Included are discussions of such topics as, critical reception, themes, narrative structure and point of view, characterization and style, settings and symbols, and interpretations of his texts. Chapters close with lists of works for further reading, and the volume concludes with several appendices and extensive primary and secondary bibliographies.

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Contents

Introduction Salingers Life as Reflected in His Fiction
1
The Early Stories
17
The Inverted Forest
41
Copyright

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About the author (2002)

EBERHARD ALSEN is Professor of English at the State University of New York, Cortland. His previous works include Romantic Postmodernism in American Fiction (1996), along with articles in such journals as American Literature, Studies in Short Fiction, and Emerson Society Quarterly.

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