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Whit Burnett: I got an eye. I can spot talent coming a mile away. Saroyan, Cheever, Caldwell, I discovered them all. Of course, it would be nice if somebody discovered me.
Jerry Salinger: Hey, come on, you've been published.
Whit Burnett: I not only discovered them, I shaped them, I challenged them.
[Pointing at his flat]
Whit Burnett: This is me.
[On the stairs]
Whit Burnett: You should continue to write about Holden, but not as a short story.
Jerry Salinger: Well, hang on, wait, wait, wait, wait. What do you mean?
Whit Burnett: I think Holden Caulfield is a novel.
Jerry Salinger: No, no, I couldn't write a whole novel. I'm a dash man, not a miler.
Whit Burnett: You only say that because you're lazy. Holden Caulfield deserves an entire book all on his own.
Jerry Salinger: A novel's a lot of words.
Whit Burnett: It's just more words. Imagine the book that you would want to read and then go write it.
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Jerry Salinger: Anyway, how's everything at the home front with you? You are good with Martha chewing your ear?
Whit Burnett: Everything at my home is fine...
Jerry Salinger: Yeah?
Whit Burnett: Because what you'll learn about having wife is that occasionally she just needs to yell to feel better.
[Jerry laughing]
Whit Burnett: Oh, and by the way, I'm awfully sorry about the New Yorker.
Jerry Salinger: How'd you know about that?
Whit Burnett: Oh please. They canned the Caulfield story because you wouldn't take any of their notes. You know, you cannot be a pain in the ass until you're a success.
Kate Rodman
Extended Reading
