From Publishers Weekly
"I'm only writing to you because my analyst insisted," begins one of the missives in Letters to J.D. Salinger. These 70-some notes to the legendary recluse edited by Chris Kubica, who runs the Web site jdsalinger.com, and Will Hochman, a Southern Connecticut State University English professor come from prominent writers like Tom Robbins, Nicholas Delbanco, David Shields, as well as from teachers, high school students and other readers. They vary in tone from starry-eyed and humorous to hostile. "I think of people like Holden," writes one teenager, "who have loads of money to spend on fancy Ivy League schools and instead flunk out, and it makes me want to spit." Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
It's the Letters to designation that signals a new departure in literary criticism here. Editors Kubica and Hochman have compiled an entirely one-sided correspondence with a celebrated recluse famously determined to communicate with practically no one. Their project began with an open call to editors, writers, critics, academics--to anyone, in fact, who wished to visit their Web site--asking them to address letters to Salinger. The idea was not that they would actually get through to the Master but that their letters might see the light of day via publication in this book. And one senses throughout the volume the wistful hope that Salinger will eventually see this book and, in the depths of his seclusion, somehow respond. In its own odd way, it works--the contributions range from pretentious, academic minitreatises to truly thoughtful notes and queries to simple, heartfelt sentiments and complaints from legions of Holden Caulfield fans. Trygve Thoreson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Book Description
"Some of us are angry, maestro, and you may not care. But I’m here to vent."—Alan Cheuse He published his only novel more than fifty years ago. He has hardly been seen or heard from since 1965. Most writers fitting such a description are long forgotten, but if the novel is The Catcher in the Rye and the writer is J. D. Salinger . . . well, he’s the stuff of legends, the most famously reclusive writer of the twentieth century. If you could write to him, what would you say? Salinger continues to maintain his silence, but Holden Caulfield, Franny and Zooey, and Seymour Glass—the unforgettable characters of his novel and short stories—continue to speak to generations of readers and writers. Letters to J.D.Salinger includes more than 150 personal letters addressed to Salinger from well-known writers, editors, critics, journalists, and other luminaries, as well as from students, teachers, and readers around the world, some of whom have just discovered Salinger for the first time. Their voices testify to the lasting impressions Salinger’s ideas and emotions have made on so many diverse lives. Contributors include Marvin Bell, Frederick Busch, Stephen Collins, Nicholas Delbanco, Warren French, Herbert Gold, W. P. Kinsella, Molly McQuade, Stewart O’Nan, Robert O’Connor, Ellis Paul, Molly Peacock, Sanford Pinsker, George Plimpton, Gerald Rosen, Sid Salinger, David Shields, Joseph Skibell, Melanie Rae Thon, Alma Luz Villanueva, Katharine Weber, and many others.

From the Back Cover
"We are not writing these letters to you. Indeed, we are merely writing to ourselves or to the part of ourselves that once had true literary aspirations, had honor, had good-hearted and honest artistic intentions, and was not jaded."—Adrian C. Louis "You made the right decision. I’ve sometimes wished that I’d followed your example, although I’d have missed meeting hundreds of wonderful people."—Tom Robbins

About the Author
Chris Kubica runs the Web site jdsalinger.com and co-founded the Chicago-based literary magazine spelunker flophouse. He lives in Indiana, where he is a poet by night and a software developer by day. Will Hochman is assistant professor of English at Southern Connecticut State University. His most recent collection of poetry is Stranger Within.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"He published his only novel more than fifty years ago. He has hardly been seen or heard from since 1965. Most writers fitting such a description are long forgotten, but if the novel is The Catcher in the Rye and the writer is J.D. Salinger...well, he's the stuff of legends, the most famously reclusive writer of the twentieth century. If you could write to him, what would you say?" Salinger continues to maintain his silence, but Holden Caulfield, Franny and Zooey, and Seymour Glass - the unforgettable characters of his novel and short stories - continue to speak to generations of readers and writers. Letters to J.D. Salinger includes more than eighty personal letters addressed to Salinger from well-known writers, editors, critics, journalists, and other luminaries, as well as from students, teachers, and readers around the world, some of whom have just discovered Salinger for the first time. Their voices testify to the lasting impression Salinger's ideas and emotions have made on so many diverse lives.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

"I'm only writing to you because my analyst insisted," begins one of the missives in Letters to J.D. Salinger. These 70-some notes to the legendary recluse edited by Chris Kubica, who runs the Web site jdsalinger.com, and Will Hochman, a Southern Connecticut State University English professor come from prominent writers like Tom Robbins, Nicholas Delbanco, David Shields, as well as from teachers, high school students and other readers. They vary in tone from starry-eyed and humorous to hostile. "I think of people like Holden," writes one teenager, "who have loads of money to spend on fancy Ivy League schools and instead flunk out, and it makes me want to spit." (Apr. 15) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

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