"Raise high the roof beam, carpenters. Like Ares comes the bridegroom, taller far than a tall man."
I always wished Salinger could have gotten over whatever made of him a recluse, but perhaps he wouldn't have written what he did if that was not part of who he was.
"If you tell me 'The Catcher in the Rye' is your favorite book, I'll assume you haven't read anything since high school."
Catcher is all well and good, but I don't believe it is his best work. Salinger was a masterful short story and novella writer (perhaps the last truly great one). I think "Nine Stories", "Franny & Zooey", and "Raise High the Roof Beam Carpenter & Seymour: an Introduction" could all catch on with the short-attention-span generation if given an appropriate chance.
There's a chance that a windfall is coming our way in the form of all the stuff he wrote but never published. But even if it doesn't, I look at the very well read copies of what he did publish and know that I definitely got my money's worth out of JD Salinger.