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Hapworth 16, 1924 by J.D. Salinger was first published in the June 19, 1965 issue of The New Yorker and is “forthcoming” as a novella to be published by Roger Lathbury’s Orchises Press. Phyllis Westberg (Salinger’s agent and president of Harold Ober Associates) has confirmed that Salinger has agreed to let Orchises Presspublish Hapworth 16, 1924, but neither Lathbury nor Westberg will discuss why Salinger is suddenly willing to republish the almost thirty-thousand-word story more than thirty years after it first appeared. Although slated for publication soon, exactly when the actual book will be available is still uncertain. Catcher in the Rye this is not—but just why there is soon to be a new book by America’s most reclusive author is both enigmatic and well worth exploring. To understand why Salinger might now be willing to publish Hapworth, it may help to consider why Salinger has maintained a very famous silence these last three decades. But if readers expect to glean some insights into the author’s famous reclusiveness, they will have to do more than read Hapworth—it’s simply not a stand-alone-text. Hapworth readers will need the entire set of “Glass stories” to understand and enjoy Salinger’s forthcoming book. Readers will learn how sincerely Salinger values the communication power of writing when they read the “Dear Old Tyger That Sleeps” letter in “Seymour—An Introduction.” They will hopefully see how Salinger understands silence when he ends “Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters” with “a blank sheet of paper enclosed, by way of explanation.” |