Helpful Score: 2
Joyce Maynard's candid account of her affair, at age 18, with J.D. Salinger, the reclusive, controlling, brilliant author of "Catcher in the Rye" and other great works of literature. Salinger was 53 at the time of the romance. Sometimes, truth is more compelling than fiction! Beautifully, honestly written. A story about romance and heartbreak, but also of growth and parenting.
Helpful Score: 1
I read Joyce Maynard's original essay when it was first published and was envious of what I perceived was her success. This memoir shows how ill-equipped she was for life. Maynard has crawled back from more trials than Job. The JD Salinger sections make for juicy literary gossip.
The story of the Maynard's family, her relationship with Salinger, and the way legendary writer's influence, along with that of her parents, reverberated through her life in the decades that followed.
Joyce writes from the heart and soul, and she tells the truth. While many have admonished her for betraying J.D. Salinger by revealing her side of the relationship, the story was hers to tell and she tells it with strength and perspective. If you are a mother or a daughter, a teenager or a woman in mid-life, you will relate to her beautiful untangling of life's complicated knots and the wisdom she has gained from that work. I own this book and will not be posting it, as it's one I read again and again when I need reminding that I'm not alone in the world. Her being 'at home in the world' helps me feel more so.
Brand new book. I bought it at the store and never had the chance to read it. Hardback
