Thousands of phonies across the country mourn the death of author J.D. Salinger.
The Onion’s tribute to J. D. Salinger, who died this past week, is quite striking. I think it’s one of the most satirically funny, things I’ve seen in their pages, and that’s saying something. Not only is the irony spot-on, but their imitation of his writing style is done brilliantly as well:
“In this big dramatic production that didn’t do anyone any good (and was pretty embarrassing, really, if you think about it), thousands upon thousands of phonies across the country mourned the death of author J.D. Salinger, who was 91 years old for crying out loud.”
Salinger’s life was really a tragic one. An author who writes such a great and (by many) beloved book as Catcher in the Rye about Holden Caulfield’s pain and alienation , deserves to feel some sense of genuine accomplishment and satisfaction. Instead of enjoying his place as a great figure on the American literary scene, he ended up so bruised and wounded by the critics of his later works that he retreated into solitude and never again shared his talent with the world. While his death will be mourned, in many ways we lost Salinger quite some time ago.
Link to The Onion:
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/bunch_of_phonies_mourn_j_d
