February 14th, 2009 / 6:23 pm
 Author Spotlight

Valentine’s Post

gwenAs cued by asstastic pr, here’s a valentine’s post:

My favorite love story is “De Daumier-Smith’s Blue Period” from Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger. There’s something rather unacademic and cliche about loving Salinger, but seriously, he might be the best writer in the world.

Let me be brief, redundent, and pedantic: “De Daumier-Smith’s Blue Period” is about a young smug painter who moves to Canada to teach painting with a weird Japanese couple; hilarity ensues. (I’m butchering this already.) Put short, he is a lonely asshole. He falls in love with a student — through paintings she sends in the mail for him to critique — and, in that sacred way, courts her with the untaught heart that makes love unbearable. The student is a nun Smith invisions as young ripe 18yr old nubile, in denial of the fact that she’s really around 60 yrs old. Upon recieving Smith’s heated letter/booty call, the seminary retracts the nun’s enrollment in the painting program. Smith loses not only his prospects of getting laid, but much more (there’s a lot of Christ symbolic stuff that I won’t get into). Smith dresses up in a tux and gets hammered, to make a memory out of nothing, and through a stunning moment of reflected sunrise light only Salinger could imagine and convey, Smith realises  that “everyone is a nun,” which, in my mind, reads as “god is everywhere.”

Salinger’s god is love. Happy Valentine’s day.

Tags: ,

18 Comments

  1. February 14th, 2009 / 6:59 pm pr—

      Fucking Brilliant! Thank you Jimmy. I have not read those stories in many years- I read them in high school, (and catcher in the rye0 and then I read them again in my mid twenties as well as all of his other books, the Glass family stuff? were there two novels? time for a revisit.

      Anyway, this was great.

  2. February 14th, 2009 / 11:16 pm Ken Baumann—

      I’d like to read Nine Stories. Does anyone have a copy they’d like to send me?

  3. February 14th, 2009 / 7:16 pm Ken Baumann—

      I’d like to read Nine Stories. Does anyone have a copy they’d like to send me?

  4. February 14th, 2009 / 11:17 pm Jimmy Chen—

      thanks pr.
      there’s a lot of hidden glass family stuff in his ‘underpublished’ work, which before the internet, you had to get from a guy named ‘raintree’ in portland, but alas:

      http://www.freeweb.hu/tchl/salinger/

      i can’t remember, but there’s a piece where vincent caulfield (holden’s brother) plays marbles with seymour or buddy glass.

      also, holden’s grand central scene from a third person.

      the collection is amazing. “the inverted forest” is a masterpiece.

  5. February 14th, 2009 / 7:17 pm Jimmy Chen—

      thanks pr.
      there’s a lot of hidden glass family stuff in his ‘underpublished’ work, which before the internet, you had to get from a guy named ‘raintree’ in portland, but alas:

      http://www.freeweb.hu/tchl/salinger/

      i can’t remember, but there’s a piece where vincent caulfield (holden’s brother) plays marbles with seymour or buddy glass.

      also, holden’s grand central scene from a third person.

      the collection is amazing. “the inverted forest” is a masterpiece.

  6. February 14th, 2009 / 7:34 pm pr—

      Whoah, jimmy. underpublished work? I am so going to look into this. thanks

      yes, I remember loving the collection, but my mind is so retarded that i can only remember the bananfish one right now, and that is because that one is everywhere, so i think i read it more recently for a third or fourth time. and always, the lesser well known ones are sort of more fun (OK, not always, but sometimes) because they aren’t taught in high school where teachers need the symbols or whatever to be pretty straightforward- they can be the more subtle ones, you know? i also shamefully read joyce maynard’s (name?) book about her affair with him.

      Also, Roth’s book the Ghost Writer wasn’t really about Salinger, supposedly, it was more about Malamud, but it is about the roth character going to vermont to meet one of his heros. Brilliant book.

      Anyway, time to revisit nine stories. this was really great.

  7. February 15th, 2009 / 12:02 am ravi—

      you old softie you.

      i bought franny and zooey a few months ago, loved franny (probably even more than catcher) but for some reason haven’t gotten around to reading zooey yet. this post reminds me i need to finish zooey immediately and check out nine stories.

  8. February 14th, 2009 / 8:02 pm ravi—

      you old softie you.

      i bought franny and zooey a few months ago, loved franny (probably even more than catcher) but for some reason haven’t gotten around to reading zooey yet. this post reminds me i need to finish zooey immediately and check out nine stories.

  9. February 15th, 2009 / 12:20 am sam pink—

      i liked 9 stories.

  10. February 14th, 2009 / 8:20 pm sam pink—

      i liked 9 stories.

  11. February 15th, 2009 / 1:06 am ryan—

      this post continues to affirm my fears that i’m the only person who can’t stand salinger

  12. February 14th, 2009 / 9:06 pm ryan—

      this post continues to affirm my fears that i’m the only person who can’t stand salinger

  13. February 14th, 2009 / 9:11 pm pr—

      You know what Ryan? I wasn’t always so crazy about the Glass books while reading them (i remember? i remember so little of anything). They were a bit too neurotic for me. I might feel differenly about them now. But I did like nine stories, and I do think Catcher in the Rye deserves its place in the land of lit. That said, the short form is maybe his thing? Like Flannery? (I LOVE her, but wise blood and the violent shall bear it away are not as effective as works of art, in my mind, as her short stories.)

      anyway, its cool if you don’t like him. you still are great.

  14. February 15th, 2009 / 4:43 am ryan—

      thanks pr. i heart you. i’ve always caught a lot of flack because i think Catcher is over-rated. but i’m good at going against the grain.

  15. February 15th, 2009 / 12:43 am ryan—

      thanks pr. i heart you. i’ve always caught a lot of flack because i think Catcher is over-rated. but i’m good at going against the grain.

  16. February 15th, 2009 / 6:20 am Brandon Hobson—

      Salinger made me want to become a writer. I love the Glass family stories and love the religious/Christ imagery and symbolism in his work. “Teddy” is my favorite from the collection.

  17. February 15th, 2009 / 2:20 am Brandon Hobson—

      Salinger made me want to become a writer. I love the Glass family stories and love the religious/Christ imagery and symbolism in his work. “Teddy” is my favorite from the collection.

  18. February 15th, 2009 / 1:26 pm pr—

      hey brandon, i’d love it if you email me here
      peterrutt@live.com – i’d like to share something with you-