Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction Mass Market Paperback – May 1, 1991

A late set of novellas by JD Salinger, both concerning Buddy, of the Glass family and chronicling the misadventures of his brother Seymour. While 'Raise High the Roof Beam' is a conventional, and pretty stiff, novella about Seymour's failure to show at his wedding, the Seymour story is a remarkable piece of essayistic prose that defies many of Salinger's expectations. Pillorying academics and his own critics, the story is an extraordinary, if esoteric piece. J. D. Salinger's stream of consciousness writing is like being at a circus; many wonderful things happening rapidly at once, but worth watching one at a time. His characters make you long to meet them, know more about them, never let them go.