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Salinger

Page 59

by David Shields


  “I knew he’d be a writer”: Oona O’Neill quoted in Patrice Chaplin, Hidden Star: Oona O’Neill Chaplin, p. 175.

  “The show consists”: Stork Club regular, quoted in David W. Stowe, “The Politics of Café Society,” The Journal of American History 84, no. 4 (March 1998), pp. 1384–1406.

  “Last year I made a rule”: J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, p. 63.

  “Girls. Jesus Christ”: J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, p. 73.

  “Dear Mr. Salinger, I’m sorry”: John Mosher, letter to J. D. Salinger regarding “Fisherman,” March 21, 1941.

  “I’ll try a couple more”: J. D. Salinger, letter to Marjorie Sheard, November 18, 1941.

  “The United States of America was suddenly”: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, address to Congress, December 8, 1941.

  “The young man”: J. D. Salinger, “A Young Girl in 1941 with No Waist At All,” Mademoiselle, May 1947.

  “Oona O’Neill, No. 1 deb”: Bettmann Archive, photograph caption, 1942.

  “Not ‘Glamour Girl No.’ ”: Associated Press, photograph caption, 1942.

  “There isn’t any night club”: J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, p. 76.

  “That winter Lois did her best”: J. D. Salinger, “The Long Debut of Lois Taggett,” Story, September-October 1942.

  “I want to kill”: J. D. Salinger, “Last Day of the Last Furlough,” Saturday Evening Post, July 15, 1944.

  “I am of the opinion”: Colonel Milton G. Baker, quoted in Paul Alexander, Salinger: A Biography, p. 80.

  “I have known Jerry Salinger”: Whit Burnett, letter to Colonel Collins, July 1, 1942.

  “The sarge almost had an attack”: J. D. Salinger, “The Hang of It,” Collier’s, July 12, 1941.

  “I am inside the truck”: J. D. Salinger, “This Sandwich Has No Mayonnaise,” Esquire, October 1945.

  “Charlie Chaplin was the first”: Lillian Ross, “Moments from Chaplin,” The New Yorker, May 22, 1978.

  “I arrived early and on”: Charlie Chaplin, My Autobiography, p. 414.

  “Just met Charlie Chaplin”: Oona O’Neill, quoted in “Charlie Chaplin & Oona O’Neill,” People magazine, February 12, 1996.

  “At first I was afraid”: Charlie Chaplin, My Autobiography, p. 414.

  “It was a great, great love-affair”: Carol Matthau, quoted in “Charlie Chaplin & Oona O’Neill,” People, February 12, 1996.

  “Salinger said terrible things about my being”: Oona O’Neill, quoted in Patrice Chaplin, Hidden Star: Oona O’Neill Chaplin, p. 175.

  “Burke, he didn’t stay”: J. D. Salinger, “Soft-Boiled Sergeant,” Saturday Evening Post, April 15, 1944.

  “Laughter is one of Charlie’s”: Oona O’Neill, quoted in Time, June 27, 1960.

  “[Charlie] made me more mature”: Ibid.

  CONVERSATION WITH SALINGER #1

  Shane Salerno interview with Michael Clarkson.

  3: SIX-FEET-TWO OF MUSCLE AND TYPEWRITER RIBBON IN A FOXHOLE

  “As was standard operating”: Ib Melchior, Case by Case, p. 83.

  “You may be ‘baldheaded and’ ”: J. D. Salinger, letter to Paul Fitzgerald, February 10, 1979.

  “As long as I live”: Sergeant Ralph G. Martin quoted in Yank: The Story of World War II as Written by the Soldiers, p. 51.

  “The people cheered and laughed”: John Worthman, quoted in Robert O. Babcock, War Stories: Utah Beach to Pleiku, p. 255.

  “Another of Ernest’s visitors at”: Carlos Baker, Ernest Hemingway: A Life Story, p. 420.

  “He found Hemingway”: Ibid.

  “Vincent smiled”: J. D. Salinger, “Last Day of the Last Furlough,” The Saturday Evening Post, July 15, 1944.

  “Salinger returned to his unit”: Carlos Baker, Ernest Hemingway: A Life Story, p. 420.

  “In her memoir Running with”: Bradley R. McDuffie, “When Papa Met Salinger,” Edmonton Journal, July 23, 2010.

  “He shared with me a”: Lillian Ross, “The JD Salinger I Knew,” Guardian (UK), December 12, 2010.

  “All writers—no matter how”: J. D. Salinger, contributor’s notes for “Down at the Dinghy,” Harper’s, April 1949 [note published in Harper’s, February 1959].

  “X threaded his fingers”: J. D. Salinger, “For Esmé—with Love and Squalor,” The New Yorker, April 8, 1950.

  “In the years that followed”: Bradley R. McDuffie, “When Papa Met Salinger,” Edmonton Journal, July 23, 2010.

  “I’m twenty-five, was born in”: J. D. Salinger, contributor’s note to Story, November–December 1944.

  “In those days”: Werner Kleeman, quoted in Noah Rosenberg, “Lifelong Pal Remembers J. D. Salinger,” Queens Courier, February 2, 2010.

  “I can’t remember very acutely”: J. D. Salinger, letter to Elizabeth Murray, August 1944.

  “I met and have had”: J. D. Salinger, letter to Frances Glassmoyer, August 9, 1944.

  “You never saw six-feet-two”: Salinger, letter to Whit Burnett, in Jack R. Sublette, J. D. Salinger: An Annotated Bibliography, 1938–1981.

  CONVERSATION WITH SALINGER #2

  Shane Salerno interview with Michael McDermott and Ted Russell.

  4: INVERTED FOREST

  “Just south of Aachen”: Stephen E. Ambrose, Citizen Soldiers: The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany, p. 167.

  “My opinion was, it was”: Werner Kleeman, interview with Bobby Allen Wintermute, Queens College WWII Alumni Veterans Project, March 31, 2009.

  “The country was obstacle enough”: Lieutenant George Wilson, If You Survive: From Normandy to the Battle of the Bulge to the End of World War II, 1987, p. 132.

  “Added to the natural obstacles”: Major General Raymond G. Barton, 4th Infantry Division combat interview.

  “The companies moved through”: Lieutenant Colonel William Gayle, 4th Infantry Division combat interview.

  “Higher commanders had regarded”: Colonel Gerden F. Johnson, History of the Twelfth Infantry Regiment in World War II, p. 217.

  “He [D.B., Holden Caulfield’s”: J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, p. 140.

  “I was a forward observer”: Lieutenant Elliot Johnson, quoted in Studs Terkel, The Good War, p. 246.

  “In Hürtgen Forest the 4th”: Lieutenant Colonel William Gayle, 4th Infantry Division combat interview.

  “At 1400 hours the battalion commander”: Colonel Gerden F. Johnson, History of the Twelfth Infantry Regiment in World War II, p. 203.

  “Uh, he [Vincent Caulfield]”: J. D. Salinger, “The Stranger,” Collier’s, December 1, 1945.

  “I send you another of”: Louise Bogan, letter to William Maxwell, 1944.

  “Dear M, I send”: Ibid.

  “On a November night”: Werner Kleeman and Elizabeth Uhlig, From Dachau to D-Day, pp. 97–98.

  “Winter brought the conditions”: Margaret Salinger, Dream Catcher: A Memoir, p. 64.

  “One dreary evening”: Werner Kleeman and Elizabeth Uhlig, From Dachau to D-Day, pp. 285–86.

  “To this day, Kleeman”: Noah Rosenberg, “Lifelong Pal Remembers J. D. Salinger,” Queens Courier, February 2, 2010.

  “I have the feeling you”: J. D. Salinger, letter to Werner Kleeman, 1961.

  “We flushed three krauts out”: Colonel Gerden F. Johnson, History of the Twelfth Infantry Regiment in World War II, p. 213.

  “There were dead bodies all”: First Lieutenant John B. Beach, quoted in Edward G. Miller, A Dark and Bloody Ground: The Hürtgen Forest and the Roer River Dams, 1944-1945, p. 100.

  “God, it was cold”: Lieutenant Colonel Franklin Sibert, quoted in Edward G. Miller, A Dark and Bloody Ground: The Hürtgen Forest and the Roer River Dams, 1944-45, p. 87.

  “During the night”: Colonel Gerden F. Johnson, History of the Twelfth Infantry Regiment in World War II, p. 221.

  “Ernest Hemingway was a correspondent”: Edward G. Miller, 4th Infantry Division combat interview.

  “I hadn’t washed or shaved”: Bob Wa
ndesforde, quoted in John McManus, The Deadly Brotherhood, p. 67.

  “For those in the know”: Paul Fussell, The Boys’ Crusade: The American Infantry in Northwestern Europe, 1944–1945, p. 84.

  “Behind them they left”: Sergeant Mack Moriss, Yank: the GI Story of the War, ed. Deb Meyers, p.12.

  CONVERSATION WITH SALINGER #3

  Barbara Graustark, “Newsmakers,” Newsweek, July 17, 1978.

  5: DEAD MEN IN WINTER

  “There was a film on”: J. D. Salinger, letter to Paul Fitzgerald, February 3, 1960.

  “They all said it was”: Martha Gellhorn, The Face of War, p. 145.

  “Hitler knew Germany”: Stephen E. Ambrose, Citizen Soldiers: The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany, p. 184.

  “Hitler realized that by remaining”: William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, p. 1090.

  “[The 4th] Division”: U.S. Army Historical Division.

  “In the first frantic days”: Sergeant Ed Cunningham, quoted in Yank: The Story of World War II as Written by the Soldiers, p. 71.

  “The enemy’s plan was simple”: Colonel Gerden F. Johnson, History of the Twelfth Infantry Regiment in World War II, p. 231.

  “There’s been a complete breakthrough”: Ernest Hemingway, quoted in Stanley Weintraub, 11 Days in December: Christmas at the Bulge, 1944, p. 55.

  “The front ran for nearly”: Colonel Gerden F. Johnson, History of the Twelfth Infantry Regiment in World War II, p. 230.

  “Roaring cannons along an 80-mile front”: Robert E. Merriam, Dark December: The Full Account of the Battle of the Bulge, p. 106.

  “It was dark and it”: Paul Fussell, The Boys’ Crusade: The American Infantry in Northwestern Europe, 1944–1945, pp. 128–29.

  “The initial German attacks rolled”: Colonel Richard Marr, 4th Infantry Division combat interview.

  “The experienced German infantry”: Danny S. Parker, The Battle of the Bulge: Hitler’s Ardennes Offensive, 1944-1945, p. 86.

  “The Battle of the Bulge”: John Toland, Battle: The Story of the Bulge, p. xvii.

  “To provide the will”: Stephen E. Ambrose, Citizen Soldiers: The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany, p. 184.

  “The Germans had infiltrated to”: Colonel Gerden F. Johnson, History of the Twelfth Infantry Regiment in World War II, p. 94.

  “My father said that no”: Margaret Salinger, Dream Catcher: A Memoir, p. 65.

  “[A G.I. named] Gordon got ripped”: Private Bob Conroy, quoted in Paul Fussell, Boys’ Crusade: The American Infantry in Northwestern Europe, 1944–1945, p. 132.

  “The casualties had been hit”: William Montgomery, quoted in Robert O. Babcock, War Stories: Utah Beach to Pleiku, p. 357.

  “The enemy hoped to break up”: Colonel Gerden F. Johnson, History of the Twelfth Infantry Regiment in World War II, pp. 233–34.

  “The Americans used desperate methods”: Stephen E. Ambrose, Citizen Soldiers: The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany, p. 201.

  “On Christmas of ’44, in”: George Knapp, quoted in Robert O. Babcock, War Stories: Utah Beach to Pleiku, p. 355.

  “On those days”: Colonel Gerden F. Johnson, History of the Twelfth Infantry Regiment in World War II, p. 309.

  “There were half-tracks and”: Martha Gellhorn, The Face of War, p. 146.

  “The fundamental reason”: Hanson W. Baldwin, Battles Lost and Won: Great Campaigns of World War II, p. 352.

  “The Fighting Fourth Division”: Paul Fitzgerald, unpublished poem.

  “The 12th Infantry held”: Colonel Richard Marr 4th Infantry Division combat interview.

  “There were many dead and”: Martha Gellhorn, The Face of War, 1988, p. 152.

  “The will of the German soldier”: John Toland, Battle: The Story of the Bulge, p. 377.

  “I was in the Counter”: Charles Meyers, quoted in Bradley R. McDuffie, “For Ernest, with Love and Squalor: The Influence of Ernest Hemingway on J. D. Salinger,” Hemingway Review, March 22, 2011.

  “[When Hemingway took a hotel”: Leicester Hemingway, My Brother, Ernest Hemingway, 4th ed., p. 264.

  “Every time it snows”: Bart Hagerman, quoted in John C. McManus, The Deadly Brotherhood: The American Combat Soldiers in World War II, p. 346.

  “There are many of the living”: Ernie Pyle, “On Victory in Europe,” draft of a column found on Pyle’s body after he was killed in Ie Shima, reprinted at http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/erniepyle/wartime-columns/on-victory-in-europe/ and http://wwpbs.org/weta/reportingamericaatwar/reporters/pyle/europe.html.

  “I remember standing next to”: Margaret Salinger, Dream Catcher: A Memoir, p. 59.

  6: STILL BURNING

  “Exhausted at war’s end, Salinger”: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia, “The Fourth Infantry Division,” http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10006134.

  “As a counter-intelligence officer”: Margaret Salinger, Dream Catcher: A Memoir, p. 55.

  “You never really get the”: J. D. Salinger, quoted in Margaret Salinger, Dream Catcher: A Memoir, p. 55; Jean Miller interview with Shane Salerno.

  “The first thing I saw”: Jack Hallett, quoted in The Holocaust Chronicle, p. 609, http://www.holocaustchronicle.org/staticpages/609.html.

  “Paul Fitzgerald, Salinger’s close friend”: Shane Salerno, discussing Paul Fitzgerald, letter to the Holocaust Library and Research Center of San Francisco, July 25, 1980; Holocaust Library and Research Center of San Francisco, letter to Paul Fitzgerald, November 14, 1980; Holocaust Library and Research Center of San Francisco, letter to Paul Fitzgerald, February 24, 1981 (letters given to the authors by the Fitzgerald family).

  “Salinger told [Whit] Burnett he”: Paul Alexander, Salinger: A Biography, p. 96.

  “But now—the sudden vast”: J. D. Salinger, “Elaine,” Story, March–April 1945.

  7: VICTIM AND PERPETRATOR

  “The National Broadcasting Company delays”: NBC broadcast, May 8, 1945.

  “I didn’t want to rehash”: Howard Ruppel, quoted in John C. McManus, The Deadly Brotherhood: The American Combat Soldiers in World War II, p. 346.

  “Salinger wound up receiving five”: Eberhard Alsen, discussing Ernest Havemann, “The Recluse in the Rye,” Life magazine, November 3, 1961; Margaret Salinger Dream Catcher: A Memoir, p. 66; “Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge, Jerome D. Salinger,” 1945.

  “Dear Poppa, I’m writing from”: J. D. Salinger, letter to Ernest Hemingway, undated, 1945.

  “To Whom It May Concern”: First Lieutenant A. Raymond Boudreau, CIC letter of recommendation upon honorable discharge, 1945.

  “My Aunt [Doris] described Sylvia”: Margaret Salinger, Dream Catcher: A Memoir, p. 71.

  “The trip over was hell”: J. D. Salinger, letter to Paul Fitzgerald, May 24, 1946.

  “Sylvia and I separated less”: J. D. Salinger letter to Paul Fitzgerald, November 23, 1946.

  “Well. In the first place”: Salinger, “A Perfect Day for Bananafish,” The New Yorker, January 31, 1948.

  8: MEASURING UP

  “In January 1947”: Paul Alexander, Salinger: A Biography, p. 121.

  “We like parts of ‘The Bananafish’ ”: William Maxwell, letter from William Maxwell to Harold Ober, January 22, 1947.

  “Did he keep calling you”: J. D. Salinger, “A Perfect Day for Bananafish,” The New Yorker, January 31, 1948.

  “It really seemed to be”: Gay Talese, “Talese on Salinger,” The New York Observer, February 3, 2010.

  “ ‘Listen,’ Corinne said”: J. D. Salinger, “The Inverted Forest,” Cosmopolitan, December 1947.

  “Half a dozen of [Salinger’s”: Frederick L. Gwynn and Joseph L. Blotner, The Fiction of J. D. Salinger, p. 9.

  “He must have known the”: Gloria Murray, quoted in Paul Alexander, Salinger: A Biography, p. 132.

  �
��I don’t know what upset Salinger”: Herbert Mayes, quoted in Ian Hamilton, In Search of J. D. Salinger, p. 104.

  “As for me, I signed”: J. D. Salinger, letter to Paul Fitzgerald, April 29, 1948.

  “ ‘Stop that,’ Eloise said”: J. D. Salinger, “Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut,” The New Yorker, March 20, 1948.

  “My work goes along pretty”: J. D. Salinger, letter to Paul Fitzgerald, October 19, 1948.

  “Dear Miss Olding”: Gus Lobrano, letter to Dorothy Olding, December 10, 1948.

  “Samuel Goldwyn has borrowed”: Thomas Brady, “Miss Hayward Set for Goldwyn Film,” The New York Times, April 2, 1949.

  “Goldwyn’s team”: Paul Alexander, Salinger: A Biography, p. 140.

  “All of a sudden he [Walt Glass]”: J. D. Salinger, “Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut,” The New Yorker, March 28, 1948.

  “Eloise (to Walt)”: My Foolish Heart, 1949.

  “If you’re interested in movies”: J. D. Salinger, letter to Paul Fitzgerald, August 26, 1949.

  “Eloise: The important thing, Lou”: My Foolish Heart, 1949.

  “Full of soap opera clichés”: John McCarten, “The Current Cinema,” The New Yorker, January 28, 1950, p. 75, quoted in Paul Alexander, Salinger: A Biography, p. 141.

  “Dear Swanie: as you know”: Jerry Wald, letter to H. L. Swanson, January 25, 1957.

  “About halfway to the bathroom”: J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, pp. 103–4.

  “When my college friend Matt”: John Seabrook, “A Night at the Movies,” The New Yorker, February 8, 2010.

  CONVERSATION WITH SALINGER #4

  Shane Salerno interview with Myles Weber, Paul Alexander, and Michael Silverblatt.

  9: THE ORIGIN OF ESMÉ

  “He won’t take his bathrobe”: J. D. Salinger, “A Perfect Day for Bananafish,” The New Yorker, January 31, 1948.

  “You say you still feel”: J. D. Salinger, letter to Jean Miller, undated.

  “Dear Jean, I arrived in”: J. D. Salinger, letter to Jean Miller, March 19, 1949.

  “Dear Jean, Yours is the”: J. D. Salinger, letter to Jean Miller, March 28, 1949.

  “Over on third base, Mary”: J. D. Salinger, “The Laughing Man,” Nine Stories, 1953.

  “I’ve been working steadily”: J. D. Salinger, letter to Jean Miller, April 16, 1949.

 

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