J. D. Salinger: A Life Raised High

This feeling of intimacy between author and reader is one of the defining characteristics of Salinger's work. As such, a biography of the author may seem like an intrusion, a stepping into a sacred space — more so, given Salinger's own obsession with privacy. In the latest such attempt, it helps to find that the biographer, Kenneth Slawenski, counts himself as one of Salinger's chief fans, being the administrator of a website devoted to the man and his work. The tone throughout, therefore, is one of respect, not to mention outright admiration. (This is something that can be taken too far, such as when Slawenski affirms that Salinger's short story, A Perfect Day for Bananafish was the inspiration for Nabokov's Lolita.)