Sunday, May 13, 2012

A Great Read

Hey now!!! It is an exciting time in my life. I am currently in my last Grad class and will have my Master's in Education by June 30th. Just 7 weeks left!!!! Once my Master's is done I'll be able to have fun again. But one aspect of my Master's that I have enjoy very much is that I have been able to read on a consist basis. In fact, I just finished this great book on J.D. Salinger, the author of The Catcher in the Rye. The name of the book is J.D. Salinger: A Life, and its author is Kenneth Slawenski. Slawenski does a great job chronicling the life of more of the most private authors in American history. One of the major themes of the book is how Salinger wrestled with the artist side of writing versus the commercial aspect. For Salinger, writing was his way of experiencing the divine, and thus became very sacred to him. It was his way of praying. So when a publisher would try and "commercialize" his works to sell them to the public, he would become indigent. Thus became the great retreat from the public of one of America's greatest authors. If you are a fan of J.D. Salinger, I cannot recommend this book enough. If you have never read any of his works, but are still interested, check it out. It is one of the best biographies I have ever read.

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