For the 1940 Club, I picked J. D. Salinger’s Three Early Stories because I hadn’t read any Salinger in so long. My memories of Salinger’s stories, which were a favorite in college, was of funny yet striking tales about a family of brilliant children written in sterling prose. The stories in this volume are not like that.
In “The Young Folks,” two strangers size each other up at a college party. Salinger tries to reproduce their sloppy speech patterns.
In “Go See Eddie,” a brother tries to talk his sister into taking a chorus line job and lets her know she’s getting a reputation for playing around.
In “Once a Week Won’t Kill You,” a man leaving for the war asks his wife to take his beloved aunt to the movies while he is gone.
These three stories seem a little immature, although they were picked up by various publications in 1940. I’m not sure if they were published together until much later, though, which might mean they aren’t appropriate for this club.
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