Hapworth 16, 1924

"Hapworth 16, 1924" is the "youngest" of J. D. Salinger's Glass Family stories, in the sense that the narrated events happen chronologically before those in the rest of the Glass series. It appeared in the June 19, 1965 edition of "The New Yorker," and has never been reprinted.

It is in the form of a letter from camp written by a seven-year-old Seymour Glass (the main character of "A Perfect Day for Bananafish").

After its appearance in "The New Yorker", Salinger – who had already withdrawn to his house in New Hampshire – stopped publishing altogether. Since he never put the story between hard covers, readers had to seek out a copy of that issue or find it on microfilm. In 1996, Orchises Press, a small publishing house in Virginia, announced that it would reprint "Hapworth," and received substantial coverage in the press. [Lundegaard, Karen M. " [http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/1996/11/18/tidbits.html J.D. Salinger resurfaces ... in Alexandria?] ", "Washington Business Journal", November 15, 1996. Retrieved on August 13, 2008.] Shortly before the books were to be shipped, Salinger changed his mind, and in accordance with his wishes, Orchises withdrew the work. Publication has been repeatedly pushed back. [Noah, Timothy. " [http://www.slate.com/id/1006033/ Hapworth 16, 1924: A Chatterbox Investigation] ", "Slate", September 11, 2000. Retrieved on August 10, 2008.] It has recently been rescheduled for publication on January 1 2009, which will be J.D. Salinger’s ninetieth birthday. [ [http://www.geocities.com/deadcaulfields/Hapworth_16_1924.htm Hapworth 16, 1924 ] ]

Since the release of "The Complete New Yorker" on DVD in 2005, Salinger's story is once again widely available.

References

[http://www.freeweb.hu/tchl/salinger/hapworth.html] [http://www.geocities.com/deadcaulfields/Hapworth_16_1924.htm]