My quote this week is:
“An artist’s only concern is to shoot for some kind of perfection, and on his own terms, not anyone else’s”.
J. D. Salinger (1919 – 2010)
Raised in Manhattan, in his early life he wrote the great American novel -The Catcher in the Rye, 1951. I guess he was overwhelmed by its success. This drove him into seclusion, or he mounted a pitch battle to preserve his privacy. Depends on your perspective.
His depiction of adolescent alienation and loss of innocence in the protagonist Holden Caulfield was influential, especially among adolescent readers.The novel remains widely read and controversial, selling around 250,000 copies a year. (Wiki)
A few years back I was facinated by his reaction to his fame and did some digging. At the time I was familiarizing myself with different forms of poetry and the following was the results.
TETRACTYS POEM: WRITER
his
readers
passionate
about his work
would climb onto its pages and live it
his unrequited love left him broken
recluse from fame
not published
for years
writes
PR
1/27/2014
TETRACTYS POEM: WRITER 2
mad
writes on
disciplined
released demons
closer to characters than family
chased immortality through young lovers
wrote everyday
unpublished
by choice
famed
PR
1/27/2014
NONET POEM: WRITER 3
normal boundaries was not for him
he held himself above his peers
and completely believed it
owned it made it happen
self-aggrandizing
if not him who
controlling
distant
writes
PR
1/31/2014
HAIKU:WRITER 4
Notoriety
From overwhelming success
Sanity threatened
PR
1/27/2014
LIST POEM: WRITER 5
publication short story shelved
took it to war
wrote during active deployment
wrote amidst atrocities
wrote to save his soul
the book was born in battle
did his own editing
no changes allowed
at liberation of Dachau
maddened by war
work came first
DO NOT DISTURB
disconnect with lovers abrupt
writing was his permanent Mistress
PR
2/03/2014
HAIKU: WRITER 6
promos book tours none
autographs interviews none
It’s all in the work
PR
2/10/2014
FREE VERSE POEM: WRITER 7
Fan consolation
All that was of him
Poured from pen to paper
Fiercely protective of his work
It was as it originally emerged
PR
2/12/14
thoughts and entanglements 
I love Salinger. And this quote. He understood purity.
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Amazing, Jazzy Did you write them all? Salinger’s life must have been one big misery 🙂
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Thank you, yes I did write them all. My research said he continued writing but never allowed any more novels to be published. I can only imagine the expectations for anything else he wrote after that must have been tremendous. Who could live up to that?
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WOW–a river of excellent poetry! I can certainly relate to “being closer to characters he wrote, than his family”–that’s how it is, writing my still unfinished novel…
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He was a facinating guy. I also read that he put in his will the time of release for stuff he had written over the years while in seclusion.
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Wow, I didn’t know that!
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Yep, it seems he was all kinds of different 🙂 A good writer though:)
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Well, I figure I’m “all kinds of different” too–so, there is room for all of us 🙂
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That’s true:) Have s good evening.
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Thanks!
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Your poetry is spectacular! I love all of it. Your quote inspired these? Wow! That is truly amazing! ❤
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Thank you! My quote reminded me that I was facinated by the way he had to handle this overwhelming fame that it inspired a series of poems written a while back. I don’t even remember what got me started. But I found him very interesting. Thanks for the positive feedback:) Merry Christmas!
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Merry Christmas! Your poems are fabulous and you should reblog them as much as possible! 😀 ❤
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That’s a thought. Thank you!
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