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In her much-anticipated memoir, Margaret A. Salinger writes about life with her famously reclusive father, J.D. Salinger -- offering a rare look into the man and the myth, what it is like to be his daughter, and the effect of such a charismatic figure on the girls and women closest to him.
With generosity and insight, Ms. Salinger has written a book that is eloquent, spellbinding, and wise, yet at the same time retains the intimacy of a novel. Her story chronicles an almost cultlike environment of extreme isolation and early neglect interwoven with times of laughter, joy, and dazzling beauty.
Ms. Salinger compassionately explores the complex dynamics of family relationships. Her story is one that seeks to come to terms with the dark parts of her life that, quite literally, nearly killed her, and to pass on a life-affirming heritage to her own child.
The story of being a Salinger is unique; the story of being a daughter is universal. This book appeals to anyone, J.D. Salinger fan or no, who has ever had to struggle to sort out who she really is from whom her parents dreamed she might be.
List of contents
ContentsIntroduction
Part One
A Family History:
1900-1955
"How my parents were occupied and all before they had me"1. "Sometimes Thro' the Mirror Blue"
2. Landsman
3. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
4. Detached F-a-c-u-l-t-i-e-s
5. We'll Bolt the Door
6. Reclusion
Part Two
Cornish:
1955-1968
7. Dream Child, Real Child
8. Babes in the Woods
9. Border Crossing
10. Snipers
11. "However Innumerable Beings Are, I Vow to Save Them"
12. Glimpses
13. "There She Weaves by Night and Day"
14. Journey to Camelot
15. Boot Camp and Iced Tea
16. The Birds and the Bees: Hitchcock's
17. A Perfect Ten
18. Notes from the Underground
19. "To Sir with Love"
20. Safe Harbor: A Brief Interlude Between Islands
Part Three
Beyond Cornish
21. Island Redux
22. Christmas
23. Midwinter
24. Springtime in Paradise:
The Producers25. Woodstock
26. Lost Moorings
1
27. Kindred Spirits
28. The Baby Vanishes
29. A Mind in Port
30. "Rowing in Eden"
31. Woman Overboard!
32. On and Off the Fast Track
33. Weaving My Own Life
34. Awakening
Afterword
Acknowledgments
About the author
Margaret A. Salinger is the daughter of J. D. Salinger.
Summary
In her much-anticipated memoir, Margaret A. Salinger writes about life with her famously reclusive father, J.D. Salinger -- offering a rare look into the man and the myth, what it is like to be his daughter, and the effect of such a charismatic figure on the girls and women closest to him.
With generosity and insight, Ms. Salinger has written a book that is eloquent, spellbinding, and wise, yet at the same time retains the intimacy of a novel. Her story chronicles an almost cultlike environment of extreme isolation and early neglect interwoven with times of laughter, joy, and dazzling beauty.
Ms. Salinger compassionately explores the complex dynamics of family relationships. Her story is one that seeks to come to terms with the dark parts of her life that, quite literally, nearly killed her, and to pass on a life-affirming heritage to her own child.
The story of being a Salinger is unique; the story of being a daughter is universal. This book appeals to anyone, J.D. Salinger fan or no, who has ever had to struggle to sort out who she really is from whom her parents dreamed she might be.
Additional text
Academic Writing Review Margaret A. Salinger's work shows the brilliance of what can happen when a woman's way of seeing is adroitly applied to a man's writing....Rarely does a memoir do so much to make readers reconsider a body of fiction by a well-known writer....This memoir has become one of the best books to surface in the world of Salinger criticism.
