Three Early Stories

By: J.D. Salinger

Narrated by: Mike Dennis

Length: 39 mins

Publisher's summary

A young and ambitious writer named Jerome David Salinger set his goals very high very early in his career. He almost desperately wished to publish his early stories in The New Yorker magazine, the pinnacle, he felt, of America’s literary world. But such was not to be for several long years and the length of one long world war.

The New Yorker, whose tastes in literary matters were and remain notoriously prim and fickle, was not quite ready for this brash and over-confident newcomer with the cynical worldview and his habit of slangy dialogue. But other magazines were quick to recognize a new talent, a fresh voice at a time when the world verged on madness. Story magazine, an esteemed and influential small-circulation journal devoted exclusively to the art of the short story and still active and respected today, was the first publication to publish the name J.D. Salinger and the story "The Young Folks" in 1940, an impressive view of New York’s cocktail society and two young people talking past one another, their conversation almost completely meaningless and empty.

Three Early Stories is the first legitimately published book by J.D. Salinger in more than 50 years. Devault-Graves Digital Editions, a publisher that specializes in reprinting the finest in American period literature, is proud to bring you this anthology by one of America’s most innovative and inspiring authors.

©2014 The Devault-Graves Agency (P)2014 The Devault-Graves Agency

Three Solid Stories

I'm ashamed to admit that I had never read anything by Salinger before so I thought these short stories would be a good introduction to his work. I definitely enjoyed all three and was pleased that all three were completely different. The narration was very good and easy to listen to.

Once you heard the first story you've heard'em all

Would you try another book from J.D. Salinger and/or Mike Dennis?

Sure. He has a good voice.

Has Three Early Stories turned you off from other books in this genre?

No.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

When i heard the first story, which is really well done and I got into the characters it was disappointing to go to the next story and hear a different story with the same character voice. It really detracts from the story. If I was reading it I might have enjoyed that more.

Did Three Early Stories inspire you to do anything?

Write this review?

Not very special

To me, the stories don’t stand out from his other work. They’re probably only interesting to Salinger completists. Also, the stories are not broken out as separate chapters. I don’t understand why short story audiobooks do this!

Great narrator, plotless stories

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

It was very well written but the scenes lacked a point. The stories felt like they were pulled from a bigger book. There really was no real detail of where the story was going or even why the reader should care.

Would you recommend Three Early Stories to your friends? Why or why not?

It you are a fan of Salinger's prose, then you will love it, I was not a huge fan so it did not work as well for me. The stories flow nicely, they just never go anywhere.

What about Mike Dennis’s performance did you like?

He has a awesome voice that really kept me engaged, even after I was bored with the story. Such a yummy deep timber that was a joy to listen to throughout. He had clear voices that stayed consistent in each story. I would love to hear more of his reads, especially on smexy books!

Any additional comments?

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts, opinions and ratings are my own.

Not Quite...

This appears to have been written before the reclusive author settled on his writing style.

Wistful, deep stories of early Catcher in The Rye

Where does Three Early Stories rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This audiobook ranks high among my many, many listened to books for its vintage nature combined with the great narration of Mike Dennis. Listening to the book, I felt like I was in a black and white smoky room with characters dressed from the 40's.

What did you like best about this story?

I read Salinger in high school, and we spent a lot of time studying the deeper meaning behind his characters. Although the stories were short, you could hear Salinger's intent for the characters from his rich language.

Have you listened to any of Mike Dennis’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not but love his melodious voice and have one in the docket ready to listen to!

If you could take any character from Three Early Stories out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Yikes! I found the men abrasive or scary and the women weak.

Sketches and Glimpses

J.D. Salinger was adamant about not allowing his early works to be reprinted in later years, after he became a popular author. He didn't believe them good enough to be preserved for posterity in book form. He only ever authorized the publication of 14 of his short stories (all but one of which originally appeared in The New Yorker, which he believed to be the major league of short story publication), as well as of course his only novel, The Catcher in the Rye.

Nevertheless, all of his previously published short stories were in fact collected in a bootleg edition, one that he tried hard to quash but remains in circulation (a handful of unpublished stories recently surfaced in a separate bootleg edition). Having read all of his stories in their crude print form, and having now listened to these three character sketches in audio format, there is no disputing Salinger's self-evaluation. These are clearly not equal to the master work he published in Nine Stories and the three Glass family volumes (though to be honest, despite being a huge fan, I have a hard time with the overly dense and overlong Seymour and Hapworth).

But it is still highly worthwhile for Salinger fans to read/listen to these stories, warts and all. They may not be perfect, but they show the early developmental stages of a writer who would soon grow into one of the best ever -- like watching old video of Wayne Gretzky as a child showing glimpses of Hall of Fame greatness. The first of these stories in particular, which happens to be Salinger's first published work, presages The Catcher in the Rye, with a guy and a girl home from college trying to connect at a party.

The stories also happen to be somewhat dated in their slang, being from the early 40s, and there is a lot of repetition in Salinger's dialogue as he tries to capture the speech patterns of a variety of characters from that era (as he did to perfection in many of the Nine Stories). On the plus side, Salinger's nearly exclusive reliance on dialogue to convey his story, themes, and characterizations, a hallmark of his short stories, is on full display here.

I'd say, at the end of the day, that this short audiobook is best suited for Salinger completists and not as an introduction for people who have never read him before. Normally, I'd direct the latter group to better known works, but in this case, none of Salinger's books are readily available in audio (except hard to find versions recorded for blind readers, or illegally). One can only hope that that will be soon rectified, along with plans to release much of his never published writing in the wake of his passing.

Very old school and uncomfortable.

What did you love best about Three Early Stories?

They reminded me of Leave it to Beaver conversations.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I didn't get a feel for anyone in these stories in such a short time.

What three words best describe Mike Dennis’s voice?

gravelly, masculine, strong

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

no

Any additional comments?

I have never read any of Salinger's work. This was too short for me to begin to understand his style or worth.

I was impressed but left hanging

Left hanging I will try to get myself into this on the next reading

Short…not worth one full credit

Uh, I didn’t notice show short this was. 39 minutes total. Should have been charged a partial credit in my opinion.