Dream Catcher: A Memoir

Dream Catcher: A Memoir is an essential one for people who may have suffered from abuse of any sort and want encouragement that it is possible to survive and not be silent. I’m not terribly interested in J. D. Salinger or a grand admirer of his work, but I heard about this book after seeing the documentary, Salinger. I could care less about the Kardashians, but I do love gossip about artsy fartsy famous people who are recluses or like to maintain tight control of their public persona. The initial 100 pages are a bit of a slog because they are about the parents of the author, Margaret A. Salinger, and filled with footnotes that help clarify the situation. Once Peggy writes about herself, the memoir becomes difficult to put down. It isn’t a tell-all book. For the most part, she relays the story as a child: admires her dad and saves most of her castigation for her mother, but what makes the memoir excellent is that she also takes a step back as a parent, a wife and an adult, examines her initial beliefs and reflects on her current impressions of past situations. Apparently she inherited that trait and capability of growth from her mother. It is really impressive how much a person can grow when they finally get out from under a shadow that they didn’t even know was clouding out the sun. Peggy deals with some really interesting philosophical issues as well: ideal versus application, spiritual versus physical, misogyny and the procedural framing of arguments-who defines what is reasonable and praiseworthy. I preferred her memoir and found it more memorable than any of her father’s work. Give me balance and a story rooted in reality over adolescent omniscience any day-give me Dream Catcher: A Memoir over Catcher in the Rye.