Letters to J. D. Salinger

Part Three: From the Web

PART THREE From the Web "All of a sudden-for no good reason, really, except that I was sort of in the mood for horsing around - I felt like jumping off the washbowl and getting old Stradlater in a half nelson." - J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye Dear J. D. Salinger, It has been ten years since I've read a short story of your's, by accident, in an old issue ofThe Saturday Evening Post. From there on it was a hunt to find everything you've had in print. At first I wanted to thank you for all the great characters and stories you have given to your readers over the years. I mailed 2 letters to your home in NH and I am sure you either threw them away or told the postal workers to treat it as an "Occupant" letter and had them discard it in the most effective of ways - an incinerator. I decided to become a writer myself after reading all your books believing that I could change the world with stories, and unlike yourself, Mr. Salinger , the people who wanted to discuss my stories with me have been welcomed to questioning what why and how I did what I did. I can't say I even like you as an artist anymore, Mr. Salinger, because no artist who wanted to disappear would continue to have his books published. He wouldn't make an issue of not being an issue and most importantly, he'd get over what was bothering him after a couple of years. So, 30 years later you keep yourself hidden in your house, with your fence and mystique and people continue to read Catcher. Your vanity keeps them from reading great stories like, "The Inverted Forest," "The Long debut of Lois Tagget," and "Soft-Boiled Sergeant." I'll have to credit you for giving me the drive to write Mr. Salinger, but like a child who hates his father, I will never forgive you for playing the pretentious artist. You didn't want to be treated like God, yet you act one by "existing", knowing that we all believe you're here but can never talk to you or see you. We can read your books but never really know now if you believe a word you've written down. I am sure this isn't the first time you have been criticized for acting like a debutante with far too many things on her mind. I just can not explain how angry you make me. I don't think I have even put one cohesive sentence together here because the whole concept of this page has me overly excited that if you read this, you might smarten up and rejoin the human race. At this point all I can do to explain my rage is say that you and Raymond Carver are the best short story writers who have ever lived and it is a shame that Ray passed away and you are still with us but refuse to be alive. Thank you, mr. Salinger for disappointing another person you inspired. I hope you burn everything you have ever written before you die because I really can't take anymore of you at this point. Good luck, Mr. Salinger. Jimmy J. Pack Jr. I hope you never read this. I do not find you dear. Simply the embodiment of an eternity. Without which there would be less purity, hope, decency in the world. And you believe in none of these. Niether do I. Don't be obscene. Try to listen for once. This was your disease: You never learned to receive. But I have a taste for vomiters, For hunger in an abyss, I have a sharp desire to violate you Because your nudity is not nudity It is art, and yet honesty. A gift: I ate each page. A. B., 17 Dear J. D. Salinger: I think what you have done to American teenagers is a disgrace. Holden is a whining spoiled brat and does not represent the majority. I think Catcher In the Rye has every right to be banned. You have created a cult of slackers whose idol you are. They are throwing away their lives just to be like your lousy fictional character, who also threw away his life. I attend a private high school in Chicago on a scholarship and my family lives on public assistance. I recieved a partial scholarship to...