Lately I have been on a Joyce Maynard kick. I got into her stuff years ago, but lately have re -discovered how much I love her writing. I was hooked after reading 'To Die For',and 'Where Love Goes'--both of which I highly recommend.
And lately I have gorged on 'Labor Day', 'The Good Daughters' and have just finished up this little literary feast with 'At Home in the World'. A perfect trifecta! I pre-ordered 'At Home in the World' as soon as it was available on my ipad and was lickin' my chops when it was 'delivered'.
So bowing out on a social obligation, skipping a couple of gym sessions, ordering pizza for dinner and letting the laundry go--I got comfortable, and dug in. This is the story that Joyce apparently had to wait for J.D. Salinger to die before she could publish. If you have read the hype, you know that Joyce had J.D. for a mentor and actually moved on to a relationship with him when she was 18 and he was 53 years old.
I once read an article in a magazine that hinted some of the details of this odd pairing, but this book definitely fills in the gaps. J.D. Salinger managed to strip this young girl of all self-esteem and sense of self. She adopted his personal habits--strange as they were--and even allowed him to foster her eating disorder. I think he wanted to keep her as young as possible to favor his borderline pedophilia. The story tells of his methodical stripping her of friends and family and favoring a very isolated lifestyle. He convinces her to trust no one and to question all motives by everyone from publishers to parents. He later berates and belittles her. And she still loved him. Pretty grim stuff. But Joyce was smart enough to evaluate the situation and figure some things out. Finally, in adulthood, she finds true love and has a family. The motivation of J.D. and his ways haunted her enough to make one last pilgrimage out east to confront him. The answers he gives her are flippant and nonchalant. She is able to have closure from both writing the book and seeing him one last time. A weaker woman would have crumbled under his machinations, but Joyce was able to step back, write, and learn from it all.
I wholly recommend this and all of Joyce Maynard's work. I am even going back to read some of her very early essays written before and while she lived with J.D.
That said, I have a question for you all. Do you do as I do and go crazy for an author and read everything in print all at one time? Or do you space things out and mix it up a little more? Let me know your preference. Have a good week--I am excited for our little fall warm up the weatherdudes have predicted. And Happy Fall Back to y'all. I love the extra hour of sleep! xoxo
8 comments:
I like to mix it up a bit, but do have a preference for Michigan writers. Also, I'll move from one genre to the next. "At Home in the World" sounds revealing; I'll have to put that on my list.
Salinger was alive when Joyce published her book. Maynard was just trying to cash in on her past--there's nothing to admire or stop laundry for in my opinion...Will Hochman
OH, Absolutely. Once, I settled in and read ALL the Dr. Seuss collection in one sitting !
Never was a Salinger fan. Have become even less of a one over the years as information about this relationship filtered out.
I go crazy on authors. If it's a series, I like to wait until it's all out there and then just dig in. I over-indulge and then move on!
No I don't go on reading jags like that. I am fortunate if I get to 10 books in a year and every one will by most likely literary fiction or history as opposed to anything written in the last 15 years.
Hey, that sounds great! I've read only some snippets in magazines so far.
I've taken both approaches~ with music and writing, too. Total immersion alternating with rotations. For as long as I can remember.
JR-See ya on Friday! Will-Welcome! First let me say that for a woman to keep a secret 25 years is pretty damn good. And it was HER story. J.D. kept none of his promises to Joyce for even 1 year. If even one of those girls would have talked, many could have been spared his manipulation. Heff-Oh, go cook something! Green eggs and Ham? Charles-Agree! Kells-Me too, but I read series as they come out. Mark-You write more than you read, and me vise versa. C U on Friday! Erik-I mix it up too! Thanks for all of your comments. It's hard for me to do a review of sorts cuz I'm not confident to write anything more than a story or event that I have experienced. I feel like I've gotten my feet wet, at least. Have a great week! xo
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