Though it was the adolescent honesty and attitude of The Catcher in the Rye’s Holden Caulfield that initially put J.D. Salinger on the American literary map, it is his short fiction, mostly initially published in The New Yorker magazine, that has added immeasurably to his growing reputation through the years. The well-known tales of Nine Stories and the longer stories and novellas, including Franny and Zooey and Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters, are discussed in this volume offering a rare critical overview of Salinger’s shorter prose offerings. Scholar Harold Bloom introduces this book of critical essays, which comes complete with a chronology of Salinger’s life, a bibliography, and an index for easy reference.