St. Pachomius Library

Jerome David Salinger

XX/XXI Centuries
Reclusive American novelist who exerted tremendous cultural influence in the 1950s and '60s. Although he was not Orthodox, one of his most famous novels, Franny and Zooey, is about a young woman who reads The Way of a Pilgrim and decides to begin reciting the Jesus Prayer without the instruction of an elder, membership in the Orthodox Church, or even a real belief in Jesus Christ. The results are disastrous, and the book has sometimes been recommended by priests to over-eager would-be hesychasts as a cautionary tale of where spiritual pride may be taking them.
Norman Hugh Redington

From Pegasos

Sarah Morrill: A Brief Biography of J. D. Salinger: --- S. Morrill
John Updike: Anxious Days For The Glass Family : Original 1961 New York Times book review of Franny and Zooey. --- NYT

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