Ramon Fernandez on the Dream Catcher

There is a popular notion that J.D. Salinger is this saintly genius who has withdrawn into Zen-like silence to pursue his bliss.
It's a very Hollywood image. Indeed, "Field of Dreams", the upcoming Sean Connery movie, and many essays and critics (Rosenbaum, Pinsker, etc.) have a vested interest in maintaining the blanks they themselves have had to fill in. Now come's Margaret to upset that cottage industry.
Her book is a restrained questioning of her father's incidental and marginal role in her life. That he turn's out to be hiding an unsavory character and his need for silence is born out of a fear of criticism and examination, is too much to bear after all these years. Unconditionally recommended.

December 3, 2000  

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