J.D. Salinger

J.D. Salinger died Wednesday at the age of 91. For a man of such vast literary repute, he published only four books: one novel, a collection of stories, and two novellas. I don’t imagine too many of us made it through high school without having been assigned to write an essay on The Catcher in the Rye. While the book never resonated with me, I did appreciate the original review, republished in yesterday’s New York Times obituary:

This Salinger, he’s a short story guy. And he knows how to write about kids. This book though, it’s too long. Gets kind of monotonous. And he should’ve cut out a lot about these jerks and all at that crumby school. They depress me. They really do.

I took a quick poll around the bookstore, and reactions ranged from, “Wasn’t that the book the dude that assassinated John Lennon was reading?” to “I’ll be interested to see what Joyce Maynard has to say” to “He was still alive?” The most thoughtful reaction came from Lily, who said, “I think that, along with the Beats, he struck a chord with the disaffected and his work helped set the stage for the youth movement of the ’60s. I mean, Holden Caulfield, with his questioning and rejecting of the status quo, was something of a proto-hippie.”

Do you remember what your reaction was to The Catcher in the Rye? How would you rate it among the most influential books of the twentieth century, and does it deserve its place in the pantheon? Or was there another book that really spoke to you when you were Holden’s age? We’d love to hear what you think.

Amy Bloom

Will I sound too much like I’m bragging if I tell you about a really fabulous event last night? The wonderful Amy Bloom was at the store to talk about her new book, Where the God of Love Hangs Out. Love, in its many forms, is the theme:

Given the range of both narratives, this work of extravagantly fine fiction cannot really be called a short-story collection. It’s more of a reunion, or a set of successfully completed jigsaw puzzles. Each of the two quartets has been pieced together into a time-traveling novella filled with hindsight and passion and ever-evolving emotions.  – New York Times

Lily, our new (well, I guess not-so-new – she survived a Christmas season with aplomb) store manager, is possibly one of Amy’s most ardent fans. Roxanne treated Amy to a pre-event dinner, and Lily managed to cadge a seat. It’s rare when you get to tell an author how important her work is to you, especially over a leisurely glass of wine. And Roxanne even borrowed from Lily’s shelftalker for the introduction:

What I love most about Amy Bloom’s writing is the compassion and insight with which she regards her characters – and the way in which she honors the complexity of their emotional lives, and refuses to judge – how refreshing! These beautifully crafted stories are alive with honest feeling and characters that are fully realized and captivating.

Lily was thrilled: “Amy’s audience doesn’t like her, they love her. Although I could be projecting.” The audience was rapt and the questions flew.

Thank you, Amy, for coming to R.J.’s. And if you missed the event, well, now, do you get our e-mails? No? I’ll make it easy for you – simply click here. And we hope to see you soon!

Winter cooking

It’s winter: the temperatures are frigid but the kitchen is warm. What better time to get cooking?

My 8-pound cast iron pan has spent more time in my cabinet than in the oven, but now I’m inspired to figure out what to do with it. The Cast Iron Cookbook is full of great cold weather recipes: Croque Monsieur, short ribs, chili, even deep dish pizza. Plus you’ll never need to pop an iron pill again. For pure entertainment value, make sure not to skip the “Cleaning & Seasoning” your cookware chapter. If you’ve let your pan get rusty, simply don rubber gloves and eye protection and spray your pan with oven cleaner. Or if you need to clean a lot of pieces, soak in a mixture of water and lye! If all else fails, go at it with “the fine wire wheel of an electric drill.” You’ll be glad to know they don‘t recommend sandblasting the pan.

For those of us single people, let’s resolve to stop plopping on the couch with a box of cereal, the cats, and repeats of “American Idol,” calling that dinner. Judith Jones, cookbook editor extraordinaire (she discovered Julia Child) has written The Pleasures of Cooking for One. The recipes are surprisingly simple, don’t use a ton of ingredients that will just go to waste, and Jones is very clever at getting three or four wildly varied meals out of a single chicken or pork loin. So uncork a bottle of wine (it will keep for a few days), turn off the tv, and set the table – and don’t share with the cats.

Speaking of resolutions, I’ve already picked out treats for when I fall off my “health kick” wagon (in about a week or so). I’ll be grabbing Salty Sweets and heading to the supermarket – there’s just something about about Milk Chocolate-Peanut Butter Mousse or Sticky Toffee Pudding that causes me to melt. Also included is a chapter on something called “fruit” – but as I don’t believe chocolate is an ingredient of “fruit,” I’ll leave that for others.

As Julia would say, “Bon Appetit, and click on the links to order!”

– Karen