Salinger: A Biography - Softcover

"As good a biography of Salinger as we're likely to get for a while. Alexander...[has] succeeded in placing Salinger in the context of his times, and in finding in the author's life seeds of inspiration for his fiction." --Boston Globe "Alexander has drawn an eerie portrait of an increasingly eccentric writer whose attempts to maintain his privacy [are] actually...a manipulative way of promoting himself and his books." --Library Journal "Alexander documents, among other things, Salinger's nervous breakdown after World War II; his hatred of New York publishers; his hatred of Hollywood; and his ugly divorce from Clair Douglas." --Liz Smith "For hardcore fans, this biography is a must." --Toronto Sun "It is safe to say that Alexander will not be making any friends among the faithful by bringing us even closer to a man who wants to be known only as the creator of Holden Caulfield." --New York Magazine "Alexander's volume is a major publishing event...A skilled investigative reporter, journalist, and biographer. Alexander surveyed numerous archives...to get his 'story'...Strongly recommended." --Choice

In researching Salinger: A Biography, journalist and biographer Paul Alexander conducted over forty interviews with major literary figures including George Plimpton, Gay Talese, Ian Hamilton, Harold Bloom, Roger Angell, A. Scott Berg, Robert Giroux, Ved Mehta, Gordon Lish, and Tom Wolfe. Alexander's research also took him to newly available archives at Princeton, Yale, Harvard, and Columbia universities, NYU, and the New York Public Library. Response from critics has been overwhelming.