J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye is so well known that it tends to overshadow his other works. Today I’d like to familiarize readers with his short stories. All nine of them appeared in magazines over a period of several years before being republished as a collection in 1953.

The first one, A Perfect Day for Bananafish, is perplexing. The principal character, Seymour Glass, seems to be an ordinary man until he commits a shocking act at the end. You find yourself flipping back through the pages for clues that you won’t find until you read his stories about the Glass family, which appear in separate publications.

Glass family members pop up in two of the other stories. Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut is about a lost love. Down at the Dinghy involves a little boy and a racist remark.

My personal  favorites are The Laughing Man and For Esmé—with Love and Squalor. In the first story, a young man known as the Chief takes a busload of boys on after-school outings. Each day, the Chief gives them a fresh installment of The Laughing Man, a kind of heroic outlaw. The boys are enthralled until the Chief’s girlfriend enters the picture, leading to a dark turn in The Laughing Man’s fortunes.

The second favorite is about an American soldier’s brief encounter with a young English girl and her little brother during World War II. Their conversation emerges as a vital element in the soldier’s recovery from battle fatigue. Esmé is one of the most charming characters I’ve ever met in my literary journey.

The other stories involve a chance meeting between a girl and her friend’s obnoxious brother, an illicit love affair, a precocious child, and the hilarious frustrations of a pretentious artist. What makes all nine stories special is Salinger’s masterful touch in creating memorable characters.

Some of the characters take God’s name in vain, which reduces my rating to four stars. Nevertheless, Salinger’s collection occupies a space of honor on my bookshelf.

Chevron Ross's novels include Weapons of Remorse, The Seven-Day Resurrection, and The Samaritan's Patient. Click here for more information.