J.D. Salinger on His Guiding Philosophy: “It’s a tremendously tall order, an undertaking seemingly more beautiful and more real in the mind’s eye than in actual practice [...] The taoist feat is to know at all times that there is nothing that isn’t shit-- but also, and more difficult, nothing that is.”
SALINGER, J.D. American author of Catcher in the Rye. Typed letter signed “Jerry”. 1972. Written during his extended correspondence with Eileen Paddison, this two-page letter offers Salinger’s reflection on Taoism. February 24, 1972, two pages. Addressed to Eileen Paddison, a close friend and aspiring writer who maintained a correspondence with.....






