First published 2018
Kenneth Slawenski, the globally recognized Salinger expert who created the deadcaulfields.com website, dedicated seven years to assembling this comprehensive portrait of J.D. Salinger. Slawenski interviewed countless people who knew the reclusive author personally. He combed through archives searching for letters, birth certificates, military reports, ocean liner passenger lists, notarized documents, and editorial records. His methodology involved piecing together scattered fragments of evidence to construct a complete picture. The research reveals a life entirely devoted to one consuming passion: the craft of writing. Every aspect of Salinger's existence served this singular obsession. The book demonstrates how Slawenski transformed disparate archival materials and personal testimonies into a coherent narrative that illuminates the man behind classics like "The Catcher in the Rye."
Genres: biography, literary-fiction, 20th-century, 21st-century
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
480 pages · Hardcover · Azbuka