The New Yorker Snubs Catcher
citycabn (citycabn@gateway.net)
Thu, 16 Sep 1999 12:07:48 -0700
As a reward for those of you who waded through my post re the Alexander
biography, the following quote:
...Salinger instructed Olding to submit The Catcher in the Rye in manuscript
form to the New Yorker [American and British book deals were already lined
up]. ...Salinger hoped the magazine would publish excerpts....
Astonishingly the editors did not like the novel and refused to publish any
excerpts. On Jan. 25, 1951, Lobrano wrote to Salinger to smooth over hurt
feelings since S. was irate about the magazine's decision. At least two
editors had read the novel, Lobrano said, and their main problems with the
book were simple. They did not believe the two sibling relationships
(Phoebe-Holden and Allie-D.B.) were "tenable"; those relationships were too
similar. [Huh?] What's more, Lobrano himself, or so he said, felt S. was not
ready to write the novel; to him, S. seemed "imprisoned" by the novel's mood
and scenes.
--p. 147