A few words about J.D. Salinger's self-imposed silence:
Op-Ed Contributor - Raise High the P.R. Blitz - NYTimes.com
People have speculated about Salinger's reclusiveness as being everything from an untreated social-anxiety disorder to a simple shift of taste: for whatever reason, he found dealing with the attention other people gave him because of his work (or just him in general) was exhausting. Unfortunately, that just made him all the more interesting to the outside world, which sees reclusiveness as a sign of something fascinating being cultivated in secret.
There's something Salinger could have done to completely dispel interest in himself, if that's indeed what he wanted. He could have come back out and said, "I gave up writing a long time ago. I'm going to be a financial consultant." Nothing kills people's interest in a creative person faster than finding out they've become anything but.
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This is so, so true. It's funny how people's desire to hide provokes curiosity about them (some people might play on that cynically, but clearly Salinger was sincere).
I do wonder what it was that put Salinger off....
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