Title: J.D. Salinger: A Life
Author: Kenneth Slawenski
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House
Pub Date: Jan 2011
Read: Feb 2011
Purchased: Greenlight Bookstore
Why: Though I had expressed some interest in Salinger’s bio, I probably wouldn’t have read it so soon if it weren’t for my little self-imposed Salinger Project
Fulfills Challenge? Yes (2)
Notes: I am not a reader of biographies (I’m generally more open to memoirs) and I feel somewhat ill-equipped to comment on them. I sometimes feel as though I need to know more about the subject than the biographer in order to adequately address any potential problems with the biography. And of course, if I knew more than the biographer why would I bother picking up the damn thing in the first place? I am well aware that this is a personal quirk; people review biographies (and other works of non-fiction) all the time and do so adequately and without all the misgivings and hang-wringing that I’m doing right now. There is something else too that I should mention: I don’t particularly like reading about or knowing too much about my favorite authors. Interviews can be fun and interesting to read but start delving too much into their personal lives (rather than the work itself or their craft) and I tend to shy away. I’d really prefer not to know.
Review/Thoughts:
If you are looking for some kind of a tell-all bio (I wasn’t but I’m aware that this is what some people are looking for), this isn’t it. We may never get it, and I think people need to face up to this fact sooner rather than later. So much correspondence has been loss (um, destroyed) — Salinger’s primary method of communication — that it seems less and less likely that we’ll ever have a complete picture. We’ll have strange anecdotes like the one in the Paris Review that the author can no longer confirm or deny (despite the author’s general refusal to address these sort of stories, told after a person’s death, irk me because the person in question cannot defend or explain themselves), but that’s about it.
While reading the bio I felt I was holding my breath until it was over. Though I knew this wouldn’t be filled with scandal (to be honest, I’m not really convinced there is much scandal in Salinger’s life), I still kept praying I wouldn’t read something that would irreparably damage the author in my eyes. And no I didn’t — the bio is generally positive: written by a fan for fans, which isn’t to say that there’s nothing negative. I don’t think the author shies away from Salinger’s negative qualities, but he is quick to offer possible alternative explanations. This is both good and bad. Good because sometimes you do need to stop and think about why someone is acting the way they’re acting and not just pass judgment; bad because sometimes it can seem like he’s making excuses for the author.
The bio contains a thorough discussion and analysis of Salinger’s major (and not so major) works. I rather enjoyed these little discussions though I’m sure many will find it annoying. I didn’t agree with every analysis (for example, I still don’t think Phoebe was faking anything when she hauled her suitcase to the Museum of Natural History and told her brother she was going with him) but I appreciated how Slawenski shed some light on the events in Salinger’s life and how they may have influenced his stories.
All in all it wasn’t a bad effort. I’m not really sure if much better can be done given the circumstances. Time will tell I suppose though I doubt I’ll be reading future bios on a most beloved author.
Final Verdict: 
