In which I continue to answer questions, directed to Barbara Kingsolver, about my reading experiences. Then I come up with some new questions.
Tag Archives: J. D. Salinger
Imagining Little Ocean’s Future
Looking for the literary significance of my latest grandchild, I turn to Walcott, Whitman, Masefield, Coleridge, and Byron. What emerges is a mystical seeker.
Reading My Way to Adulthood
As an adolescent, I used fantasy in an attempt to hold on to my childhood innocence and hated “Catcher in the Rye.” Little did I realize that Salinger’s novel describes my struggle.
Portrait of the Lesbian as a Young Artist
Proust and James Joyce were particularly important in helping Alison Bechdel negotiate her complex relations with her father.
Women Making Sense of Their Lives
The female Bildungsroman arose to help women make sense of their lives in the feminist era.
What Holden Would Say about Mitt
Holden Caulfield would definitely apply his favorite word to Mitt Romney.
To Esmé and Alban with Love (No Squalor)
With names from Salinger and Blake, my two new grandchildren have promising destinies.
Author PTSD Led to Billy Pilgrim, Holden
It can be argued that “Slaughterhouse Five” and “Catcher in the Rye” were both shaped by their authors suffering from PTSD.

