Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters & Seymour an Introduction by J.D. Salinger (1963)

Two novellas continuing the story of the Glass family, focusing on the eldest child, both told by the second son, Buddy.

Book Review: Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour an Introduction are perhaps the least accessible of J.D. Salinger's work. Raise High (about Seymour's wedding day) is my least favorite story, trying for the charm and wit of his other work, but not quite getting there. Seymour lacks  charm, much humor, and plot, but has infinite information about Salinger himself. His penultimate published work shows Salinger sinking under the weight of the Glass family into his own imaginary world where he knew that family better than he knew his own. In earlier stories, in his desire to be published in The New Yorker, Salinger had been determined to entertain and enlighten. But by this point he was less interested in the reading public than in the interworkings of the fanciful Glass family. I'm surprised that The New Yorker stood so solidly by Salinger, publishing these stories (including his final work, the even more out there Hapworth 16, 1924), though for all I know his name on the cover boosted sales immeasurably.

The second novella, Seymour, is Salinger's most self-conscious work, letting the author virtually replace the narrator. Here he repeatedly enjoys commenting on his writing, alerting the reader that he's being verbose and will continue to be so, and then goes on to be wordy as hell. The novella tells the reader so much about Salinger himself, however, that it becomes a must-read for completists. Strangely, Salinger gives Buddy Glass (the narrator of both novellas) credit for writing The Catcher in the Rye and at least three of Salinger's short stories. Huh? We learn about Salinger's interest in haiku and Asian poetry. We're introduced to the character of Curtis Caulfield. And more. Others may find these two not his best, but as a window into Salinger's world, they're essential.  [4★]