Imagine you're an accomplished writer with a few somewhat successful novels to your credit. You're approached by a mysterious fan with a proposal to write a thriller for a large sum of money. The catch? The book will be read only by this person (and maybe his bodyguard) and never published; its existence will forever be a secret. You will never talk about it; you will not keep a copy. Do you agree?
That's the scenario novelist Conner Joyce lays out for Adam Langer early in The Salinger Contract. And, he adds, some pretty good authors had accepted the offer, including Saul Bellow, Norman Mailer and (hence the title) J.D. Salinger.
The Adam Langer who stars in The Salinger Contract is not the Adam Langer who wrote The Salinger Contract, though. While the real-life Langer has written several twisty, offbeat books (such as The Thieves of Manhattan), the novel's protagonist has just a single title to his credit. One of the fun things about The Salinger Contract is the way Langer mixes the real together with the not so real, the truth with lies. And it's hilarious, laugh-out-loud funny; like the Rolling Stones song, it's a gas gas gas. Langer captures the book publishing scene perfectly, from the big box stores to the avaricious editors. So how much of the story is real? This is all I'm allowed to say. Enjoy. --Tom Lavoie, former publisher