At the express request of the author, the publisher is not permitted to provide in its promotional materials any additional text, biographical information, citations, or reviews related to this work. This is what accompanies every book published by the mysterious J.D. Salinger (1988-2010). No photographs or links, no prologues or introductions, just the words that the writer left on paper. Hence the legend.

With the same penchant for mystery and uncertainty, he answers Matt Salinger, heir and absolute connoisseur of his heritage, meeting the press on his first visit to Spain. To celebrate 70 years since publication nine stories And 60s from his latest book: Raise, carpenters, roof beam and Seymour, introduction.; The writer’s executor arrives to take away part of his work, which to a certain extent has always been overshadowed by the popularity of the famous Catcher in the rye.

The visit coincided with the re-release of a case compiling all of his works in Spanish, which were sold out at Alianza Editorial. That is, the three books mentioned above, and the one that is said to have been Salinger Sr.’s favorite, Franny and Zooey. Just four volumes, combined into less than a thousand pages, were enough to elevate him to the level of one of the most important events of the 20th century.

Since 2019, it is known that both his son and widow are working on the publication of his desired unpublished work, so the anticipation every time his name comes to the fore again begins with the same question: when will everything that has been revealed? was born? Was it left in the trunk? “My father said very clearly: publish everything, not only beautiful things, but also “warts”understanding warts as ugliness, although I can advise that there is more beauty than warts,” says his son Matt.

Not wanting to give more clues, the heir to all this material does not dare to name a specific date for the expected event. “At the rate I’m moving, if I do everything directly myself, it could mean that between a year and a half and another two years of transcription workbut I’m looking for a way to do it faster.” To achieve this, Salinger Jr. tried all types of computer systems, favoring dictation software that could digitize even the smallest annotations among the thousands of pages that needed to be transcribed. .

Voluntary resignation of Salinger, the reclusive writer

What all these readers are looking forward to is exactly what Salinger deprived them of by hooking them with his cult novel. Catcher in the Rye. After this, the success was stunning and the writer, who had been rejected by publishers so many times before, moved to the village and stayed there. in voluntary retirement from public life when he ceased publishing in 1963.but I don’t write.

Matt explains this misanthropy of the author by the deceit and superficiality of the intellectual environment of New York at that time. “He was very interested in spiritual development, while the others were more focused on drinking.”he explains, emphasizing his father’s lack of interest in New York social life.

A lover of peace and tranquility, conducive to creativity, according to his heir, Salinger preferred to do without the bureaucracy of the publishing industry, including editors and journalists, and devote himself entirely to writing. “Publishing was not an easy business, he was very involved, especially on an emotional level, and going through this process took time away from his writing”.

Thus, between 1963 and 2010 we have almost five decades during which the reclusive writer carried on silent production waiting to be dusted off. But Salinger Jr. does not specify whether these are novels or short stories, several books or one, he only calls these texts his “work” as a whole.

“The Other Salinger”, a literary universe for reflection

“Catcher in the Rye At first glance, this may seem like a simple novel, but once you step inside, you will realize that in this novel, My Father weaves a number of much more complex, deep, and sophisticated themes. But what happens when you read Franny and Zooey or Rise up, carpenters… The thing is that these are much deeper books from the first reading. My father always said that he wrote for what he considered his private reader. AND Salinger’s private reader is a lonely or misunderstood person.or that he feels a certain unhappiness, or that he’s not sure what direction to go in,” Matt says when asked about his father’s lesser-known works.

And it is true that when one enters the narrative universe of this “other Salinger” one finds that place to thinkwhere the existential reality of the characters questions the reality of oneself, and loneliness or misunderstanding becomes a little kinder.

Themes such as the search for spirituality to fill the emptiness of the soul, the value of innocence or admiration for the purity of childhood are some of the recurring themes in his work. His stories, which undoubtedly involve members of the Glass family, praise of human sensitivity and they have more brilliance than would be expected from a writer of his dark reputation.

From the Transcendentals Franny and Zooeyto almost essayistic experiments Seymour: Introductiongoing through emotional difficulty’For Esme, with love and ease.‘or rudeness (nine stories); every message is similar a dialogue whose conclusion is nothing less than the achievement of meaning, or at least the search for it. An honest obsession with finding meaning and not getting lost in the vulgarity of the unimportant.

We don’t know when the wait will end. When will we be able to read J.D. Salinger’s name in a new book?. One thing is clear: this moment is approaching, and perhaps this act of “literary diplomacy” by his son, encouraging people to meet “the other Salinger,” serves as a prolegomenon for what is to come. Well, no matter how many conjectures, conjectures or inventions, as his son Matt was already tired of repeating during his visit: “It’s all in his books.”