Nine Stories

Nine Stories

J.D. Salinger

A Perfect Day for Bananafish 3

Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut 19

Just Before the War with the Eskimos 39

The Laughing Man 55

Down at the Dinghy 74

For Esmй-with Love and Squalor 87

Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes 115

De Daumier-Smith’s Blue Period 130

Teddy 166

• A Perfect Day for Bananafish

This story describes the last day of Seymour Glass’s life. It starts off with Muriel, Seymour’s wife, calling her mother and telling her that she has arrived at the hotel and happy that they are on a vacation. Muriel’s mother is extremely cautious of Seymour and is constantly worrying about Muriel. Seymour goes to the beach and meets Sybil Carpenter. Seymour tells Sybil the story of bananafish and how they eat so many bananas and become so bloated; they cannot exit the hole they entered in, and eventually die. At the end of the story, Seymour goes up to his hotel room and kills himself. I didn’t really like this story because it seemed kind of odd, especially after he shoots himself in the end.

• Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut

This story is about two friends, Mary Jane and Eloise, spending an evening together talking about their college life and having a few drinks. Eloise’s daughter, Ramona, comes into the story, along with her imaginary boyfriend, Jimmy Jimmereeno, to meet Mary Jane, who hasn’t seen Ramona in awhile. During one of the conversations, Eloise talks about Walt, a humorous guy from college, and how one time she was running late and rolled her ankle trying to catch the bus and Walt had called her ankle “Uncle Wiggily.” I enjoyed this story because it feels real, like someday that would be a friend and I reminiscing on the past.

• Just Before the War with the Eskimos

The story starts off with two girls, Ginnie Mannox and Selena Graff, who go and play tennis every Saturday morning. Ginnie begins to complain, after five Saturdays, about why she has to pay for the taxi bill every time they return for home. Although Selena doesn’t pay for the taxi bill, she provides the two with tennis balls that her father apparently makes. Ginnie insists that Selena must repay