J. D. Salinger_ A Life - Kenneth Slawenski [183]
One such letter was sent to Judge Hand, who endorsed Salinger with enthusiasm. “He is a close friend of mine and I have the utmost regard, not only for his intelligence, but for his personal character.” Hand went on to explain Salinger’s intense interest in Eastern philosophies and highlighted his tenacious dedication to his craft. “He works with most untiring industry, writing and rewriting, until he thinks he has expressed his thought as well as it is possible for him to do so.”14
Judge Hand remained uncertain as to the exact duties of a “cultural ambassador” and ended his letter requesting an explanation of precisely what the State Department had in mind for his friend. A week later, he received a reply informing him that Salinger “would no doubt be asked to speak informally before interested professional and lay groups in the various countries he would visit, hold informal round table discussions and spend some time just talking shop with his counterparts.”15 Hand was incredulous. With regard to Salinger’s character, the government’s lack of understanding was colossal. Clearly irritated by its lack of research, Hand attempted to set the State Department straight on who J. D. Salinger actually was and what it was up against. “He likes to be alone and to live alone,” Hand scolded. “I can think of hardly anyone who would be less likely to ‘hold informal round table discussions,’ and spend time ‘talking shop’ with his counterparts.”16
The notion of J. D. Salinger traveling the globe and giving lectures is amusing, but the episode annoyed Judge Hand and made Salinger wary. Considering the certainty of Hand’s final response, it might be assumed that the government quickly abandoned all hope of recruiting Salinger for an official position. But this was not the case. In future years, various branches of government, including the president of the United States himself, would stubbornly attempt to press Salinger into service.
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The rumor that Salinger was planning a book was confirmed in January 1961, when Little, Brown released a series of advertisements in selected newspapers. The ads showed multiple copies of Franny and Zooey, stacked upon one another in pyramid form or aligned like a row of dominoes. Salinger allowed the advance publicity but ensured that it was as muted and austere as the book cover itself, which had no illustration. Despite Salinger’s puritan control over this new publication, Dorothy Olding and Little, Brown and Company gently attempted to persuade him to accept a number of book club offers, as he had with The Catcher in the Rye. As early as May 1961, Salinger had already turned down offers by the Book-of-the-Month Club, the Reader’s Subscription Book Club, and one by the Book Find Club that he described to Ned Bradford as being so horrible it was almost beautiful.* Ironic, in hindsight, was Salinger’s opinion that Franny and Zooey might struggle without a book club deal but would eventually “move along” despite it.17
But the editors at Little, Brown were masters of the sale and found clever ways to promote the book beyond Salinger’s tight restrictions. The earliest ads, printed six months before the actual release, teasingly declared Franny and Zooey to be “what America is reading.” The premature boast threw Salinger fans into a frenzy, sending them rushing to bookstores only to be met by disappointment.
Advertising Franny and Zooey so long before its actual release had consequences beyond titillating readers. It gave critics ample time to load their guns and take aim. Their moment had finally come, as Salinger had always known it would. When the time for publication finally arrived, during the second week of September, Franny and Zooey suffered an onslaught of critical scorn.
A few initial reviews of Franny and Zooey were deceptively positive. Even