I have to admit that last week I had a moment of doubt and thought, “Is Salinger still alive?” He is, and I discovered lots of his uncollected stories have been put online. While this is not expressly against his wishes (they were published once, after all), it’s probably entering the murky waters of copyright infringement. But in the spirit of the Internet, here’s a link to the story “Hapworth 16, 1924,” written by a precocious 7-year-old Seymour Glass. (It’s a long story, so be warned.) It had such gems as this in it:
Few of these magnificent, healthy, sometimes remarkably handsome boys will mature. The majority, I will give you my heartbreaking opinion, will merely senesce. Is that a picture to tolerate in one’s heart? On the contrary, it is a picture to rip the heart to pieces.
That’s just so satisfying to hear.