If J.D. Salinger doesn't want to talk, why don't we just leave him alone? The notoriously reclusive author of the perennially banned classic Catcher in the Rye (which targets the "phoniness" of adult life, and has never been out of print since its initial release in 1951) was an elusive subject long before Mark David Chapman claimed that Salinger's most famous book served as an inspiration for shooting John Lennon. Although this British-produced documentary never really hits audiovisual paydirt in trying to capture its subject (other than a slo-mo shot of an older Salinger walking on the sidewalk, as well as several stills), it does offer a portrait of the artist through interviews with lovers, friends and family members. Viewers will learn that Salinger seemed to have a normal childhood, attended Valley Forge Military Academy, survived a particularly bloody battle during WWII, and made his breakthrough publishing short stories in New Yorker magazine. While watching the producer's TV-tabloid-like attempts to get closer to the man, I couldn't help but feel a little odd prying into the private details of a person who so clearly wants to be left alone. In our celebrity-drenched society, we seem to have a deep problem with someone who chooses not to play the game. If it's privacy Salinger wants, let's respect it, and let his art speak for itself. Still, given the popularity of ex-lover Joyce Maynard's (who appears in the documentary) memoir At Home in the World, as well as the more recent Dream Catcher: A Memoir, by daughter Margaret Salinger, libraries may want to consider. Aud: H, C, P. (C. Block)
J.D. Salinger Doesn't Want to Talk
(2000) 48 min. $149. Films for the Humanities & Sciences. PPR. Color cover. ISBN: 0-7365-1659-X. Vol. 16, Issue 1
J.D. Salinger Doesn't Want to Talk
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