"A Perfect Day for Bananafish" is a short story by J. D. Salinger, originally published in the January 31, 1948 issue of The New Yorker. It was anthologized in 1949's 55 Short Stories from the New Yorker as well as in Salinger's 1953 collection, Nine Stories. It is the first of Salinger's stories to feature the fictional Glass family, and follows Seymour Glass on his Florida honeymoon. Jerome David Salinger (born January 1, 1919) is an American author best known for his 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye, as well as his reclusive nature; he has not published any new work since 1965 and has not granted a formal interview since 1980. ... is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The New Yorker is an American magazine that publishes reportage, criticism, essays, cartoons, poetry and fiction. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... This is the actual title of a book sometimes referred to as 55 Stories from the New Yorker. ... Year 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nine Stories book cover Nine Stories (1953) is collection of short stories by American fiction writer J. D. Salinger. ... The Glass family is a group of fictional characters that have been featured in a number of J.D. Salingers short stories. ...

The story, which was originally titled "A Fine Day for Bananafish,"^[1] was an important one in Salinger's career. The august New Yorker, which at the time had only published one of Salinger's stories, accepted "Bananafish" for publication immediately and, because of its "singular quality," signed the author to a contract giving them right of first refusal on any future short stories.^[1] Upon its publication, "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" was met with immediate acclaim; according to Salinger biographer Paul Alexander, it was "the story that would permanently change his standing in the literary community."^[1] Right of first refusal is the right to make an offer before offers from others are considered. ...

Plot summary

It details a day spent by Seymour Glass on the beach, as his wife Muriel talks to her mother about Seymour and the results of his psychoanalysis. It is widely praised for its depiction of the shell-shocked non-conformist Seymour, as he fails to conform to life post-war but connects and tells a story of the bananafish to a four-year-old girl named Sybil. In the much-discussed and analyzed ending, he then returns to his room, where he commits suicide with his wife sleeping in the bed next to him. But they all got fucked in the ass so oh well Seymour Glass was the oldest of the children in J. D. Salingers fictional Glass Family. ...

Related works

Other Glass Family stories include:

• Franny and Zooey,
• Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction, and
• Hapworth 16, 1924.
• "Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut"
• "Down at the Dinghy"

Franny and Zooey is a 1961 pair of stories, published together in book form, by J. D. Salinger, the author best known for The Catcher in the Rye. ... Hapworth 16, 1924 is the youngest of J.D. Salingers Glass Family stories, in the sense that the narrated events happen chronologically before all other Glass stories. ... The story Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut by J.D. Salinger appears in a collection of short stories by the American author, entitled Nine Stories. ... Down at The Dinghy is a short story by J. D. Salinger that was originally published in Harpers in April of 1949. ...

References