Salinger: The Recluse Up Close

In one of the most complete published portraits of reclusive author J.D. Salinger, an ex-lover reveals that he locked his manuscripts in a safe, obsessed about food (and vomiting), strongly believed writers should not become famous, and loved TV sitcoms -- especially those involving Mayberry and the Mertzes. Author Joyce Maynard had a nine-month affair with Salinger 26 years ago, when he was 53 and she was 18. In her book "At Home in the World," to be published by St. Martin's Press, she provides a look at the reclusive author of the iconic 1951 novel "The Catcher in the Rye," about the disillusioned young hero Holden Caulfield. Maynard says Salinger, who has not published a book since 1965, told her publishing is "just more of a damned interruption than I can tolerate anymore." But she says he wrote every day for hours, and by 1973 had completed at least two more books.