The Portrait Of My Parents Is A

Not Only Did I Avoid Speaking Of Salinger; I Resisted Thinking About Him. I Did Not Reread His Letters To Me. The Experience Had Been Too Painful.

Some Literary Types Subscribe To The Notion That Being A Writer Like Salinger Entitles A Person To Remain Free Of The Standards That Might Apply To Mere Mortals.

The Vehemence With Which Certain Critics Have Chosen Not Simply To Criticize What I've Written, But To Challenge My Writing This Story At All, Speaks Of What The Book Is About: Fear Of Disapproval.

If I Told You About All The Stories I Don't Tell, I Would Be Violating The Very Boundaries I Set For Myself.

Those Who Rhapsodize About The Ease And Joy Of Childhood Have Perhaps Forgotten What It's Like To Be 12 Years Old.