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From Bananafish
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This is a list of the magazines which have contained Salinger stories. Use the shopping list at right to locate the primary publication of all 35 Salinger short stories.
Introduction
The first section contains the "missing" or "underpublished" stories. These are those stories that were never published in widely-available books, but can still be found in the original magazines where they appeared.
The second section contains a list of the publication dates of the widely-published stories. Although all of these were published in widely-available books, Some people may be interested in tracking these down for their collections.
There are more stories which are truly missing as well. Check the Unpublished section for more information on these works which never appeared in print.
Almost all of these stories are relatively easy to find if one just looks through the microfilm copies of these magazines at one's local library. It also may be possible to get the bootleg books through inter-library loan. Please ask your librarian for help! Please don't ask us for copies of any of these stories, and please do not upload them here!
We have included short, legal quotes below from some stories.
There may be other missing stories out there. These are the only known ones, at least among the Bananafish Mailing List, but that doesn't mean that there are certainly no others. Go See Eddie, for instance, was rediscovered after years of being lost in the obscure Kansas Review.
If you would like to offer your own comments or criticism of these stories for inclusion here, please see the opinions section.
Under-published stories
The Young Folks
Salinger.org community rating: 2.9 out of 4
- (March-April 1940) The Young Folks. Story XVI: 26-36.
Salinger's best early story. Do try to find a copy of this one!
- Inside, somebody had turned on the radio, or the volume had suddenly increased. A girl vocalist was huskying through the refrain from that new show, which even the delivery boys were beginning to whistle.
Go See Eddie
Salinger.org community rating: 2.9 out of 4
- (December 1940) Go See Eddie. The Kansas Review VII: 121-124.
- Reprinted in:
Another fairly good story. These two must have been saved up for a while...
- Bobby's hand was half fist when he knocked the emery board from her fingers. She neither looked at him nor picked up the emery board from the carpet. She just got up and went back to her dressing table to resume brushing her hair, her thick red hair.
The Hang of It
Salinger.org community rating: 2.6 out of 4
- (July 12 1941) The Hang of It. Collier's CVIII: 22.
- Reprinted in:
Short (one page!) and overly sweet. The only saving grace of this thing is JDS' use of "spelled-out language", but that hardly makes it worth looking at.
- "Don't say that to me again. Or I'll kill ya. I'll akchally kill ya, Pettit. Because I hatecha, Pettit. You hear me? I hatecha!"
The Heart of a Broken Story
Salinger.org community rating: 3 out of 4
- (September 1941) The Heart of a Broken Story. Esquire XVI: 32, 131-133.
This one's a lot of fun. It's a first-person account of what the author thinks is wrong with writing fiction, but it's neither grumpy nor sarcastic. It's sincere.
- That was the beginning of the story I started to write for Collier's. I was going to write a lovely tender boy-meets-girl story. What could be finer, I thought. The world needs boy-meets-girl stories. But to write one, unfortunately, the writer must go about the business of having the boy meet the girl. I couldn't do it with this one. Not and have it make sense.
The Long Debut of Lois Taggett
Salinger.org community rating: 2.9 out of 4
- (September/October 1942) The Long Debut of Lois Taggett. Story XXI: 28-34.
- Reprinted in:
- Story: The Fiction of The Forties ed. by Whit and Hallie S. Burnett (New York: Dutton, 1949) pp. 153-162
A fairly good story which brings up lots of questions in the reader.
- Come springtime again and air-conditioning at the Stork Club, Lois fell in love. He was a tall press agent named Bill Tedderton, with a deep, dirty voice. He certainly wasn't anything to bring home to Mr. and Mrs. Taggett, but Lois figured he certainly was something to bring home.
Personal Notes on an Infantryman
Salinger.org community rating: 2.8 out of 4
- (December 12 1942) Personal Notes on an Infantryman. Collier's CX: 96.
Another war story with a twist ending about an older man who wants to join the army.
- Then Lawlor said something to me that sent a terrific thrill up my back. He bent over slightly and leaned across my desk. "I want action," he said. "Can't you understand that? I want action."
The Varioni Brothers
Salinger.org community rating: 3.3 out of 4
- (July 17 1943) The Varioni Brothers. Saturday Evening Post CCXVI: 12-13, 76-77.
One of Salinger's longer and better stories, this one reminds me of Sherwood Anderson's The Flood.
- Joe Varioni taught English III-A, from Beowulf through Fielding, as the catalogue put it. He taught it beautifully. All little girls who take long walks in the rain and major in English have had Grendel's bloody arm dragged across their education at least three times, in this school or that. But somehow when Joe talked about Beowulf's silly doings they seemed to have undergone a rewrite job by one of the Brownings.
Both Parties Concerned
Salinger.org community rating: 2.8 out of 4
- (February 26 1944) Both Parties Concerned. Saturday Evening Post CCXVI: 14, 47.
Originally to be titled Wake Me When it Thunders.
- "Something's the matter," I said. I know her like a book. I mean I know her like a book.
- "Nothing's the matter," she says. "Stop worrying about me. Everything's swell. I'm the happiest girl in the world."
Soft Boiled Sergeant
Salinger.org community rating: 2.6 out of 4
- (April 15 1944) Soft Boiled Sergeant. Saturday Evening Post CCXVI: 18, 32, 82-85.
Originally to be titled Death of a Dogface. Here, a somewhat gruff army man tells of a friend and mentor in the army.
- I looked up at him a couple of times, I figured I seen about the ugliest-looking guy I ever seen in my life. Even in uniform Burke was no beaut, but that first time I seen him he had on a fancy store bath robe, and in the old Army only Burke could get away with that.
Last Day of the Last Furlough
Salinger.org community rating: 3.2 out of 4
- (July 15 1944) Last Day of the Last Furlough. Saturday Evening Post CCXVII: 26-27, 61-62, 64.
A story about John "Babe" Gladwaller and Vincent Caulfield at home before the go overseas to war. Babe talks about war and about his feelings for his girlfriend, Frances, in a way very reminiscent of Seymour.
- He doesn't know, thought Babe, lying in the dark. He doesn't know what Frances does to me, what she's always done to me. I tell strangers about her. Coming home on the train, I told a strange G.I. about her. I've always done that. The more unrequited my love for her becomes, the longer I love her.
Once a Week Won't Kill You
Salinger.org community rating: 2.9 out of 4
- (November/December 1944) Once a Week Won't Kill You. Story XXV: 23-27.
A very conversational piece about a man leaving for World War II. Everyone's always sitting heavily or something, not one of JDS' best.
- "Aunt--Uh--There's a war on. Uh--I mean you've seen it in the newsreels. I mean you've heard it on the radio and all, haven't you?"
- "Certainly," she snorted.
- "Well, I'm going. I have to go. I'm leaving this morning."
- "I knew you'd have to," said his aunt, without panic, without bitter-sentimental reference to "the last one." She was wonderful, he thought. She was the sanest woman in the world.
A Boy in France
Salinger.org community rating: 2.9 out of 4
- (March 31 1945) A Boy in France. Saturday Evening Post CCXVII: 21, 92.
- Reprinted in:
- Saturday Evening Post, July/August 2010
- Post Stories, 1942-1945 ed. by Ben Hibbs (New York: Random House, 1946), pp. 314-320
A sad story about a young man preparing for the night on the front lines in France. He reads a letter which says "Dear Babe" from a young girl named Matilda so we can assume it's about Babe Gladwaller.
- The boy raised his dirty, stinking, tired upper body, and from a sitting position, without looking at anything, he got to his feet. Groggily he bent over, picked up and put on his helmet. He walked unsteadily back to the blanket truck, and from a stack of muddy blanket rolls he pulled out his own. Carrying the slight, unwarm bundle under his left arm, he began to walk along the bushy perimeter of the field. He passed by Hurkin, who was sweatily digging a foxhole, and neither he nor Hurkin glanced with any interest at the other.
Elaine
Salinger.org community rating: 2.8 out of 4
- (March/April 1945) Elaine. Story XXV: 38-47.
Fairly forgettable, this one left me with a bad taste in my mouth.
- She had no girl friends of her own age, and she knew no boys. Boys whistled at her, boys wrote clean or dirty notes to her, boys said "Hiya, beautiful" to her in hallways, in drugstores, on street corners; but she didn't go out with any of them, or even know any of them. If they asked her to go for a walk; or to a movie, she said she couldn't, that her mother wouldn't let her. This was not true.
This Sandwich Has No Mayonnaise
Salinger.org community rating: 3.2 out of 4
- (October 1945) This Sandwich Has No Mayonnaise. Esquire XXIV: 54-56, 147-149.
- Reprinted in:
- The Armchair Esquire ed. by Arnold Gingrich and L. Rust Hills (New York: Putnam's, 1958), pp. 187-197
Vincent Caulfield narrates this story which is like a stateside version of A Boy in France. He's upset about the news that his brother, Holden, is missing in action.
- Missing, missing, missing. Lies! I'm being lied to. He's never been missing before. He's one of the least missing boys in the world. He's here in this truck; he's home in New York; he's at Pentey Preparatory School ("You send us the Boy. We'll mold the man-- All modern fireproof buildings..."); yes, he's at Pentey, he never left school; and he's at Cape Cod, sitting on the porch, biting his fingernails; and he's playing doubles with me, yelling at me to stay back at the baseline when he's at the net.
The Stranger
Salinger.org community rating: 3.1 out of 4
- (December 1 1945) The Stranger. Collier's CXVI: 18, 77.
Babe Gladwaller and his little sister, Mattie go to visit Vincent Caulfield's girl after the war to tell her how he died. Get this one. This is yet another story I wish I had written.
- "I'm sorry I have to be a stranger with hay fever and on my way to lunch and a matinee. It seems lousy. Everything seems lousy. I didn't think it would be any good, but I came anyway. I don't know what's wrong with me since I'm back."
I'm Crazy
Salinger.org community rating: 3 out of 4
- (December 22 1945) I'm Crazy. Collier's CXVI: 36, 48, 51.
An alternate take on chapters 1, 2, and 22 of The Catcher in the Rye, with Holden getting kicked out of "Pentey" and talking to "old Spencer" and his sisters, Phoebe and Viola. Notable most in its differences from Catcher and the included painting of Holden Caulfield.
- I kept seeing myself throwing a football around, with Buhler and Jackson, just before it got dark on the September evenings, and I knew I'd never throw a football around ever again with the same guys at the same time. It was as though Buhler and Jackson and I had done something that had died and been buried, and only I knew about it, and no one was at the funeral but me.
Slight Rebellion Off Madison
Salinger.org community rating: 3 out of 4
- (December 1946) Slight Rebellion Off Madison. The New Yorker 22: 76-79 or 82-86.
- Reprinted in:
- Inverted Forest (Japanese)
- Wonderful Town: New York Stories from the New Yorker by David Remnick (New York: Random
House, 2000)
Again as in chapter 17 of The Catcher in the Rye, Holden tries to convince Sally to run away with him.
- "Look, Sally. How would you like to just beat it? Here's my idea. I'll borrow Fred Halsey's car and tomorrow morning we'll drive up to Massachusetts and Vermont and around there, see? It's beautiful. I mean it's wonderful up there, honest to God. We'll stay in these cabin camps and stuff like that till my money runs out."
A Young Girl in 1941 with No Waist at All
Salinger.org community rating: 3.1 out of 4
- (May 1947) A Young Girl in 1941 with No Waist at All. Mademoiselle 25: 222-223, 292-302.
- Reprinted in:
There are quite a few biographical references in this story of love on a cruise ship.
- The young man-his name was Ray Kinsella, and he was a member of the ship's Junior Entertainment Committee-waited for Barbara at the railing on the portside of the promenade deck. Nearly all the passengers were ashore and, in the stillness and moonlight, it was a powerful place to be. The only sound in the night came from the Havana harbor water slucking gently against the sides of the ship. Through the moon mist the Kungsholm could be seen, anchored sleepy and rich, just a few hundred feet aft. Farther shoreward a few small boats corked about.
The Inverted Forest
Salinger.org community rating: 3.1 out of 4
- (December 1947) The Inverted Forest. Cosmopolitan: 73-109.
- Reprinted in:
- (March 1961) The Inverted Forest. Cosmopolitan Diamond Jubilee Issue: 111-132.
- Inverted Forest (Japanese)
Considered by some to be one of Salinger's best stories, this one deserves reading. It was probably just too old and non-Glass-or-Caulfield-related to make it into a book.
- Ford arrived nearly an hour late, and his shyness lasted almost to the dessert course. Then all of a sudden his guest-of honor behavior turned gently perfect.
A Girl I Knew
Salinger.org community rating: 3.3 out of 4
- (Feb 1948) A Girl I Knew. Good Housekeeping 126: 37, 186-196.
- Reprinted in:
- Best American Short Stories of 1949 ed. by Martha J. Foley (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1949), pp. 248-260
- Inverted Forest (Japanese)
Originally to be titled Wien, Wien. This wonderful story seems rather autobiographical. The narrator flunks out of college and is sent to Vienna to study German and doesn't get, and doesn't want to get, the girl. At the end the story suddenly shifts gears and zooms into the future, which doesn't work too well with the rest of the piece.
- Probably for every man there is at least one city that sooner or later turns into a girl. How well or how badly the man actually knew the girl doesn't necessarily affect the transformation. She was there, and she was the whole city, and that was that.
Blue Melody
Salinger.org community rating: 3.2 out of 4
- (September 1948) Blue Melody. Cosmopolitan: 50-51, 112-119.
- Reprinted in:
Originally to be titled Scratchy Needle on a Phonograph Record. A Jazz story fitted into World War II by way of a flashback. It mentions the Varioni Brothers in passing.
- Lida Louise passed over it. She was looking at Peggy. "You and him sweeties?" she asked her.
- Rudford said quickly, "No."
- "Yes," said Peggy.
- "Why you like this little ole boy like you do?" Lida Louise asked Peggy.
- "I don't know," Peggy said. "I like the way he stands at the blackboard."
Hapworth 16 1924
Salinger.org community rating: 3.1 out of 4
- (June 19 1965) Hapworth 16, 1924. The New Yorker: 32-113.
A long letter home from Camp Simon Hapworth by a young, precocious Seymour Glass. This is the story that will be made into a book at some time. It is the only Glass story not yet available in book form. It is very reminiscent of Seymour, an Introduction.
- I will write for us both, I believe, as Buddy is engaged elsewhere for an indefinite period of time. Surely sixty to eighty per cent of the time, to my eternal amusement and sorrow, that magnificent, elusive, comical lad is engaged elsewhere! As you must know in your hearts and bowels, we miss you all like sheer hell. Unfortunately, I am far from above hoping the case is vice versa.
Widely-published stories
A Perfect Day for Bananafish
Salinger.org community rating: 3.5 out of 4
- (January 31, 1948) A Perfect Day for Bananafish. The New Yorker: 21-25.
- Reprinted in:
Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut
Salinger.org community rating: 2.8 out of 4
- (March 20, 1948) Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut. The New Yorker: 30-36.
- Reprinted in:
Just Before the War with the Eskimos
Salinger.org community rating: 2.8 out of 4
- (June 5, 1948) Just Before the War with the Eskimos. The New Yorker: 37-40, 42, 44, 46.
- Reprinted in:
The Laughing Man
Salinger.org community rating: 3.1 out of 4
- (March 19, 1949) The Laughing Man. The New Yorker: 27-32.
- Reprinted in:
Down at the Dinghy
Salinger.org community rating: 2.8 out of 4
- (April, 1949) Down at the Dinghy. Harpers CXCVIII: 87-91.
- Reprinted in:
For Esmé - with Love and Squalor
Salinger.org community rating: 3.4 out of 4
- (April 8, 1950) For Esmé - with Love and Squalor. The New Yorker: 28-36.
- Reprinted in:
Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes
Salinger.org community rating: 2.9 out of 4
- (July 14, 1951) Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes. The New Yorker: 20-24.
- Reprinted in:
De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period
Salinger.org community rating: 2.9 out of 4
- (May, 1952) De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period. World Review XXXIX: 33-48.
- Reprinted in:
Teddy
Salinger.org community rating: 3.4 out of 4
- (January 31, 1953) Teddy. The New Yorker: 26-34, 36, 38, 40-41, 44-45.
- Reprinted in:
Franny
Salinger.org community rating: 3.5 out of 4
- (January 29, 1955) Franny. The New Yorker: 24-32, 35-36, 38, 40, 42-43.
- Reprinted in:
Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters
Salinger.org community rating: 3.5 out of 4
- (November 19, 1955) Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters. The New Yorker: 51-58, 60, 62, 65-66, 70, 72-74, 76, 78-80, 83-84, 86, 88-90, 92, 94-98, 101-102, 104-105, 107-112, 114-116.
- Reprinted in:
Zooey
Salinger.org community rating: 3.6 out of 4
- (May 4, 1957) Zooey. The New Yorker: 32-42, 44, 47-48, 50, 52, 54, 57-59, 62, 64, 67-68, 70, 73-74, 76-78, 80-82, 87-90, 92-96, 99-102, 105-106, 108-112, 115-122, 125-139.
- Reprinted in:
Seymour: An Introduction
Salinger.org community rating: 3.2 out of 4
- (June 6, 1959) Seymour: An Introduction. The New Yorker: 42-52, 54, 57, 60, 62, 64, 66-68, 71-72, 74, 76-78, 80, 82, 84, 89, 90-102, 105-116, 119.
- Reprinted in:
