This book marks my first encounter with J.D. Salinger. The book belongs to my father, as evidenced by his name on the inside cover. It looks like he purchased it sometime after 1960. Twelve passages are demarcated with blue ball-point parentheses; the pages containing these passages are noted on the last page of the book. Page 101 has a lone parenthesis.
I believe this book started my habit of trying to find the precise scene in the book represented on the cover. In the New York Times Book Review, Julie Lasky says that this cover "so offended J.D. Salinger, it contributed to his decision to transfer rights from Signet to Bantam." But I suspect its similarity to a Hardy Boys cover is what made me open it in the first place.
Posted by Charles on July 16, 2003 05:25 PM