Rating: 
Summary: One of the best book of short stories--even after 40 years.
Review: These nine stories by J.D. Salinger, who is best known for
"The Catcher in the Rye," were culled from the many stories
Salinger wrote for magazines. Even after 40 years, these nine
stories--the best of the best--still provoke and lend insight into the human condition. After some
of the pieces, such as "Perfect Day for Bananafish" and "Teddy,"
people may ask themselves "Why?" The answers are within the
stories. Like myself, you find yourself reading them again,
not only for more meaning but also just because you want to be with
the characters some more. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: an Enthralling piece of art
Review: Salinger's short stories are subtle, intense, and deeply contemplative. After finishing one of these stories, the reader is forced to sit and think for awhile about what they've just read and find the meaning and the message that Salinger was attempting to convey. It is an enthralling piece of art which one should read through twice in a very serious manner. After reading through it in this way, it is then great to read a story before bed and think about it as you're drifting off. One of Salinger's talents is that within the space of a few pages, he is able to develop a character so fully that the reader feels a great emotional attachment to that character. It forces you to think about the fate of the characters in a way that you would not had you not been emotionally attached to them. I find this collection of stories highly entertaining, profound, thought-provoking, controversial, and disturbing all at the same time. A great read, will definitely be reading it many times over in the next few years.
Rating:
Summary: Wow...that's all I can say
Review: I read this after Catcher, Franny & Zooey, and Raise High and Seymour: an Introduction... so I knew what I was getting into with Salinger's Short Story book. I did not know that the stories would be this good however. I agree, these are my favorite short stories ever. The first time I read them I knew they were great but after reading a second time they truely proved to be at a life changing level. As important as The Catcher In The Rye in my opinion. As good as Hemingway in terms of realness and emotion. All are favorites but I really love "A Perfect Day For Bananafish" and "Teddy", for their harsh reality, and the philosphy respectively; plus I am a firm believer that all great stories end in death. What A gift Salinger was to the world...simply the best writer of reality to surface since the twenties...all readers must check this one out along with everything eles by Salinger.
As a sidenote I realize that this review was very choppy and poorly written but that is the only way I was able to explain how my head described its brilliance. This book is truely powerful stuff that wouldn't let me pen down what makes it so strong. I was in effect strangled by it's greatness and forced to do what I could to promote it. I hope this little rant was helpful?
Rating:
Summary: The Best (Intended) Book of Short Stories Ever (by 1 author)
Review: There's no discussing it. Here is the 2nd best collection of short stories ever assembled (the first is The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain, which he did not intend or assemble). "For Esme- With Love and Squallor" is the best short story ever written by anyone. Believe it or not. Buy this book, for heaven's sake. No collection can begin or end without it.
Rating:
Summary: Nine great reasons to read this book
Review: Most people, virtually everyone, knows J.S. Salinger form "The Catcher in the Rye", and despite the fact that many people love this book, not many of them try and read another works from this author. Actually people stick to reading and rereading "Catcher", instead of moving on to another of his four published books. "Nine Stories" is a good chance to read more brilliance written from Salinger.
Each story has an inner strength that makes it compelling and touching. From the first one "A Perfect Day for Bananafish", until the last one, "Teddy", the writer enters in a specific world dealing with people who are in the edge of their existence, their human condition. And throughout the narrative they will be forced to deal with their situation. The confrontation may happen or not, but they are given the chance of doing so. The characters feel alienated from the people in their lives.
My favorite stories are "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" and "For Esmé --with Love and Squalor". It is interesting that only later I noticed that them both share so much in common. The two texts have as main character men who served in World War II whose lives were profoundly affected by this experience.
"Bananfish" tells the story of Seymour. The first part concerns of his wife having a phone conversation with her mother while the couple is in a hotel. It is throughout her talk that we learn who her husband is and his mental health. The way Salinger unveils his characters -- Seymour specially -- is very subtle. From the beginning, it is virtually impossible to know who the writer is aiming to; until he starts to focus on Seymour. The second part of the story deals with the man himself. We first see him on the beach and that's when we understand why it is `a perfect day for a bananafish'. And why he is so tormented.
"For Esmé" starts while Sergeant X is in Europe and while he is in a café he meets the young girl Esmé, whose intelligence and sensibility are impressive. During the course of a few minutes, they develop a strong friendship. Probably Esmé was the tie to the world that was missing in Sergeant X's life. As improbable and complex as this relationship is, this is faded to an ending. But even being far from her Sergeant X manages to fulfill his promises.
The other seven stories have the same theme and approach that is like Salinger's signature. Characters are so well developed that one feels that has been reading a novel, and not only short stories. This book will probably please people who like "The Catcher in the Rye" and is expecting more of Salinger's flawless and deep prose.
Rating:
Summary: Very Salingeresque.
Review: The only other Salinger work I have read is Catcher.
But these nine stories, well they are just wonderful. I must highly recommend them, as being stories that will somewhere, at some point, touch something deep within any reader. They will resonate.
What confounds me, what astounds me, is how Salinger takes such mundane (seemingly mundane) vignettes, and then just rips them, tears them.... somewhere among the final lines of each. Provides just that little wee twist.
These aren't "mysteries" per se.
Yet, they ARE, in that each goes much beyond what it says.
They ARE mysteries.
Nine EXPERIENCES! Nine believeable HIDDEN CAMERAS..... tape-recordings (the dialogue is utterly superb)... each story will leave you with personal "hmmmmms" to ponder.
In my opinion.... a great book for book clubs, really. Much discusssion to follow each installment.... even though the stories are so OLD!
They are TIMELESS!
I once said that Flannery O'Connor was the greatest 20th Century short-story-teller.
Now, I am not so sure!
I honestly think Salinger surpasses her work, in relevance, in cadence. Everything here is definitely timeless.... read it now today, or twenty years from now, it's going to be every bit as meaningful and wonderful.
My favorites? For Esme - With Love And Squalor, followed by A Perfect Day For Bananafish, and Teddy.... in no apparent order.
De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period was also beautiful. Fantastic. How can anyone even categorize such work? Each is a masterpiece in itself.
I loved all nine.
T.y.L.i.I.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Collection
Review: This collection is great. When you first read any of these stories you will just sit there thinking how random they seem. Realistically however they are extremely deep. This is one of the best short story collection ever made. My personal favorite was "The Laughing Man." Once you read and reflect on these stories you will see how deep and wonderful these stories actually are. This is a great buy for such a well regarded literary work.
Rating:
Summary: The best of the best
Review: Forget CATCHER IN THE RYE. Yes, it's a classic, but NINE SHORT STORIES, along with RAISE HIGH THE ROOFBEAM are really Salinger's best writings. The short stories are concise, vibrant, and electric---like nothing else in the canon. These are short stories that actually mean something, go somewhere, and tell us a few things about not only the characters in them, but ourselves as well. It's almost impossible to tell anyone about these little gems without giving away either the plot or the surprise endings, so please take a look for yourselves at these remarkable treasures. These stories shed light on the human condition or lack thereof. The only other collection I've ever come across that did this, to this extent, was one I recently read titled THE CHILDREN'S CORNER by Jackson McCrae. But NINE even surpasses that collection. "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" and "Down at the Dinghy" are probably the best of the bunch, but there honestly isn't a bad on in the group. Each is distinctive and fresh, without being overblown or melodramatic. Willaim Faulkner once said that the only thing worth writing about was the conflict within the human heart. Well, that's exactly what you get here in this wonderful selection. What are you waiting for? Dig in! Must also recommend Salinger's RAISE HIGH THE ROOFBEAM and Jackson McCrae's THE CHILDREN'S CORNER for equally good reading.
Rating:
Summary: One of the most enjoyable of all story collections
Review: These stories are Salinger at his best. His beautiful colloquial New Yorkese , his precise observation of the lives of his characters is there in every story. There is a quality in these stories, a special kind of feeling for a different time and world. Only reading the stories can provide that feeling, and no review can even come close to the sense of it.
Perhaps the best known of the stories is ' From Esme: With Love and Squalor" which tells of a lonely G.I. in Devon during the Second War's meeting with a young English girl and her brother orphaned from their father. The scene shifts to the young man in the war itself writing her a letter as he is breaking down. Another of the stories " A Perfect Day for Bananfish" will be the core of much of Salinger's later writing about the Glass family. It tells of Seymour Glass , the oldest of the Glass children their greatest genius and poet, of his marriage and his suicide. Among the other most memorable stories( though they are all memorable ) are " The Laughing Man" " Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut" and "Teddy"
Salinger's great ability to recapture the world of childhood, his remarkable feel for the New York urban world of his time , his spiritual surmisings and presentation of his own eccentric but at the time new and lovable way of looking at the world combine to make these stories one of the most enjoyable I know of.
Rating:
Summary: I had no idea short stories could have such an impact
Review: I was never really a Salinger fan, having read Franny and Zooey first when I was too young (actually, the book will probably always be over my head), then Catcher in the Rye when I was too old (and jaded by the whole angst-ridden adolescent theme), but Nine Stories...was beautiful. Salinger does an excellent job in depicting the characters objectively, so that emotionally charged situations are not sentimental, yet their full impact is felt deeply by the reader. I don't think I know of any other writer that is better at portraying the great significance that sometimes underlies seemingly very mundane events (I'm thinking of the "Eskimos" story here). If you have a dry sense of humor, you'll probably enjoy this book. My favorites are "For Esme, with Love and Squalor," "Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes," "De Daumier Smith's Blue Period" and "Just Before the war with the Eskimos."
**It's important to read each story carefully. I don't think I would have enjoyed the book half as much if I read it the way I used to read (skim) books in high school. It was only after 3 years in college that I finally started reading dialogue carefully enough to appreciate all the subtle bits of humor and depth of insight that separate a great writer from the rest. And now I understand why so many think Salinger is such a great writer.
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