Want to cruise to literary stardom on a handful of stories and (what I’d call) novellas, and live to 91? Here’s the formula:
Mr. Salinger was controlling and sexually manipulative, Ms. Maynard wrote, and a health nut obsessed with homeopathic medicine and with his diet (frozen peas for breakfast, undercooked lamb burger for dinner). Ms. Salinger said that her father was pathologically self-centered and abusive toward her mother, and to the homeopathy and food fads she added a long list of other enthusiasms: Zen Buddhism, Vedanta Hinduism, Christian Science, Scientology and acupuncture. Mr. Salinger drank his own urine, she wrote, and sat for hours in an orgone box.
“J. D. Salinger, Literary Recluse, Dies at 91” by Charles McGrath, NYT 1-28-10
Adios, J.D.! Thanks to Deanna for cluing me in.
Have fun and cuídate.