Tributes

From Bananafish

Salinger.org
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Perhaps because of his fame and "cachet", over the years, people have referred to J. D. Salinger in one medium or another. Here's a start of a list of the most egregious ones. Submissions would be appreciated.

Literary Tributes

Bluebeard, by Kurt Vonnegut

Delta, Oct 1998, 320 pages - buy
ISBN: 038533351X
Dell, Aug. 1992 - buy
ISBN: 0440201969

Kurt Vonnegut's book, "Bluebeard", features a grumpy next door neighbor named "Slazinger" who is an ex-author.

Buddy Glass Letter, the New York Times, 6/6/92

Here's a fun one! On June 6, 1982, a full-page ad appeared in the New York Times featuring the following letter from "Buddy Glass"!

"I called the advertising department the day [the ad] came out and spoke to the fellow who took the advertisement. He said the ad had come in over the phone, and that he had not met the person who bought it. He said that with considerable regret; there was a tremendous stink at the paper, and I'm sure he took a lot of heat for it. Shortly after that, Salinger's lawyers sent a letter to the editor, which was printed in a later issue of the Book Review, disavowing any connection with the ad. Eventually, a writer/journalist was charged with impersonating Salinger in an attempt to have a novel published.
 ATTENTION!

 PUBLISHERS OF FINER FICTION
 ===========================

 BUDDY GLASS would like a brief moment of your time:

 "My very close buddyroo, S.K. Barnett,[1] has just completed
 his First Real Novel -- or so he claims -- which he is aptly
 calling Benedictis. Well bully for *him*, you say. (Do I
 still know my reader?) Another city-bred-writer who has
 long-since turned to the hills, old S.K. has gone -- *against
 my warning* -- and written himself not only a First Person,
 but a Highly Sentimental, little book. But what can you tell
 a person these days? (At least he's planning to houseboat
 it out of here on publication; or as he puts it, 'No lingerie
 department autographs for *this* boy!') A promise from me
 to you -- the Guarantee is this: Nothing more than a laugh,
 or at the very least, a mild chuckle, on each of his 440 typed,
 double-spaced manuscript pages. Enough brevity. It's time
 for my breakfast."

 S.K. Barnett's
 BENEDICTIS
 --Will Be Available For Publication This Fall--

 [1] a pseudonym if ever I heard one.
Later in the year, a man named Stephen Kunes was sued by Salinger for attempting to sell a fictitious interview to People magazine, and for passing off letters and other prose that were attributed to Salinger. This was documented in various places:

10/14/82, New York Times: J. D. Salinger Files Impersonation Lawsuit

10/18/82, People: Court Date

11/6/82, New York Times: J. D. Salinger in Accord on Impersonation Suit

11/6/82, Washington Post: J. D. Salinger's Day in Court

From what I can tell, nothing was ever heard about Benedictis or Mr. Kunes,
and the whole thing remains a curious footnote." - Tim O'Connor (tim@roughdraft.org)

For Rupert - With No Promises, Esquire, Feb 1977</dt>

Esquire published an unsigned story in February, 1977, titles For Rupert - With No Promises which was rumored to have been by Salinger. Later, however, Esquire's fiction editor revealed that he had written it himself.

There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom, by Louis Sachar

Random House, July 1994, 195 pages - buy
ISBN: 0394805720: In this childrens book by Louis Sachar, of the Wayside Stories fame, the main character's school counselor picks up a copy of "Raise High the Roofbeam, Carpenters", and reads aloud a section in which Salinger brings up the Zen tradition of always returning a "Hello" with another "Hello."

<a NAME="shoelessjoe"></a>Shoeless Joe, by W. P. Kinsella - <a href="#fieldofdreams">movie</a> - review

Ballantine Books, 1996 - buy
ISBN: 0345410076
Durkin Hayes (audio casette), 1994 - buy</dt>
ISBN: 0886463491

Remember the movie, <a href="#fieldofdreams">Field of Dreams</a>? Well, it's based on the book, Shoeless Joe by William Patrick Kinsella. The book features Salinger as a main character. It's really quite a good book, too.

TV References

The Single Guy, NBC</dt>

The NBC situation comedy show, The Single Guy had an episode in its first season where a doorman pretended to be J. D. Salinger to impress the title character's new girlfriend. Lots of unctiousness ensued as everyone gushed over this faux-JDS.</dd>

Frasier, NBC</dt>

Another NBC situation comedy show, Frasier, has an episode where Dr. Crane and his brother are chasing a reclusive author whom their father befriended.</dd>

Movie References

An Iranian movie of Franny and Zooey was made. Called <a href="http://www.eye.net/Arts/Movies/Onscreen/1996/os0201g.htm">Pari</a>, it tells the story from an Islamic view.</dd>

<a NAME="myfoolishheart"></a>My Foolish Heart - <a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/title-exact/My%20Foolish%20Heart%20%281949%29">info</a></dt>

RKO Radio Pictures, 1949</dt>
VHS <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6303347703/bananafishhome">buy</a></dd>

A movie of Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut was made by RKO Radio Pictures in 1949. Called My Foolish Heart, it was scripted from the JDS story by Julius and Philip Epstein, the same people responsible for The Brothers Karamazov and Casablanca.</dd>

<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/title-exact/My%20Foolish%20Heart%20%281949%29">The film</a> is really not too bad for the time. It borrows a bit too much from <a href="http://us.imdb.com/Title?Clock,+The+(1945)">The Clock</a> (which came out four years earlier), and it diverges from the source story a great deal, but it does have its moments. Sadly, I feel the film completely misses the point of the story, making Eloise into a really nice girl gone bad, skipping Ramona almost entirely, and adding a love triangle unnecessarily. If it hadn't been based on Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut, I think I would have liked it more. - Stephen Foskett</dd>

<a NAME="fieldofdreams"></a>Field of Dreams - <a href="#shoelessjoe">book</a></dt>

MCA/Universal, 1989</dt>
VHS <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6301599977/bananafishhome">buy</a></dd>
DVD <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0783225881/bananafishhome">buy</a></dd>

Field of Dreams was based on the book, <a href="#shoelessjoe">Shoeless Joe</a> by William Patrick Kinsella. The character played by James Earl Jones was supposed to be J. D. Salinger and the book features JDS as a main character! Salinger, however, didn't allow the movie to use his name and likeness, so a fictitious civil-rights activist was used in his place.</dd>

<a NAME="conspiracytheory"></a>Conspiracy Theory - <a href="http://us.imdb.com/Title?0118883">info</a></dt>

Warner Studios, 1997</dt>
VHS <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0790733234/bananafishhome">buy</a></dd>
DVD <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6304708793/bananafishhome">buy</a></dd>

Conspiracy Theory stars Mel Gibson as Jerry, a somewhat sketchy recluse who publishes a journal of conspiracy theories. While most of his theories are pretty outlandish, one of them hits close to something secret, and he finds himself on the run. Throughout the movie, Jerry obsesses over Catcher in the rye, compusively buying any copy he comes across to add to his large collection at home. A pretty good action movie with a lot of twists, turns, and of course, explosions. </dd>

Musical References

In association with <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/bananafishhome">Amazon.com</a>, you may also buy many of these CDs online. Just click on the little book (or the alternate "buy" link) and you will jump to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/bananafishhome">Amazon.com</a>.

P.J. Harvey</dt>

P.J. Harvey's new album includes Salinger references. It's funny because I started the P.J. Harvey <a href="http://www.pjh.org">web site</a> about the same time I started this one. She never mentioned Salinger until now, though! - Stephen Foskett</dd>

Is This Desire?</dt>: CD <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000AFFI/bananafishhome">buy</a></dd>

Mia Sheard</dt>

Mia Sheard named her album With Love and Squalor and wrote a few songs about Seymour and the rest. She even sent me a copy! It's really quite good!</dd>

With Love and Squalor</dt>: CD <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000089PS/bananafishhome">buy</a></dd>

Ellis Paul</dt>

One of my favorite singer/songwriters, Ellis Paul, talks about blaming Holden Caulfield in "Who Killed John Lennon" on his album, Stories. Go buy this CD.</dd>

Stories, Philo</dt>
CD <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000003VQ/bananafishhome">buy</a></dd>

Bananafish</dt>

A Pop/Rock band called Bananafish have some CDs available. I've never heard them, though. Strange.</dd>

Bananafish, Paget</dt>

CD <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000003JEW/bananafishhome">buy</a></dd>

There Must Be a Place, Paget</dt>

CD <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000003JEU/bananafishhome">buy</a></dd>

Tomorrow Never Knows, Paget</dt>

CD <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000003JEY/bananafishhome">buy</a></dd>

The Cure</dt>

The Cure have a song called "Bananafishbones" on their album, The Top.</dd>

The Top, Polydore</dt>: CD <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000005S0E/bananafishhome">buy</a></dd>

Green Day</dt>

Green Day wondered "Who Wrote Holden Caulfield" on Kerplunk.</dd>

Kerplunk, Lookout</dt>: CD <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000000FGQ/bananafishhome">buy</a></dd>

The Offspring</dt>

The Offspring felt "like a bananafish" on "I Choose" from their album, Ixnay On The Hombre.</dd>

Ixnay On The Hombre, Sony</dt>: CD <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000002BPS/bananafishhome">buy</a></dd>

The Wynona Riders</dt>

The Wynona Riders named their album, J. D. Salinger and gave it the distinctive look of a Salinger book.</dd>

J. D. Salinger, Lookout</dt>

CD <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000000FIL/bananafishhome">buy</a></dd>

Piebald</dt>

Piebald released a song titled Holden Caufield on their first release, When Life Hands You Lemons. This CD is long out of print, but the song can be found on a new compilation CD Barely Legal/All Ages.</dd>

The Glass Family</dt>
There is a band entitled "The Glass Family" --- The Band

We Are Scientists</dt>
The band "We Are Scientists" released an album entitled "With Love and Squalor" --- The Album

Barely Legal, Big Wheel Recreation</dt>
CD <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005KCHJ/bananafishhome">buy</a></dd>

Other References

Bill Clinton</dt>

Many commentators compared Bill Clinton to Holden Caulfield during the 1992 elections. I doubt many would now, though.</dd>

Mark David Chapman</dt>

Perhaps the most sickening tribute of all was the murder of John Lennon. Mark David Chapman saw himself as a Holden Caulfield-esque "Catcher" trying to save innocent John from going over the cliff into old age and phoniness. Chapman shot him in New York City on December 8, 1980 with a copy of The Catcher in the Rye in his pocket.</dd>

Tributes

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