Don't Save Anything

September 11, 2017
The late Salter was commonly regarded as a writer’s writer, and this superb collection shows why. In the preface, his widow, Kay Eldredge Salter, describes finding these previously published but uncollected writings among his papers following his death. They include a profile of Ben Sonnenberg Jr., founder of the literary magazine Grand Street. In this piece, Salter praises his friend’s “bravery and spirit” and admits being jealous of him, even during his decline from MS. Other profile subjects include Robert Jarvik, the designer of the first artificial heart, and William DeVries, the surgeon who implanted it. Elsewhere, Salter entertains with stories of working on Downhill Racer with Robert Redford and arguing about which skier they should model the movie’s protagonist on, and reflects on Dwight Eisenhower, whom he calls not a conventionally heroic general but a “tough, resilient, wise” leader. In an essay from 2002 on the future of writing, Salter declares that the “life-giving novel, like the theater, despite occasional flare-ups, belongs to the past,” adding that “literature is not dead... but it has lost its eminence. The tide is turning against it.” Crisp and razor sharp, Salter’s work peels away illusions to reveal the matter-of-fact nuances of his and our lives. Agent: Amanda Urban, ICM.

September 15, 2017
Previously published but not collected until now, these magazine pieces reflect the author's wide range of experience and interests as well as his prose mastery.Salter (1925-2015) was best known for his fiction (All That Is, 2013, etc.), but these essays not only reflect a prolific career in literary journalism, but also show how much magazines have changed in the last half-century or so. There's an insightful interview with Nabokov, one that extends well beyond Lolita and which had to be written from memory because the subject, already reluctant, wouldn't allow notes. It ends on this autumnal note: "The light is fading, there is no one else in the room or the room beyond. The hotel has many mirrors, some of them on doors, so it is like a house of illusion, part vision, part reflection, and rich with dreams." What a surprise to learn that this was a 1975 assignment for People, which no longer would be expected to publish such a writer on such an author. These aren't selections from literary journals but rather from travel and food magazines and other general-interest publications. A West Point graduate and Korean War fighter pilot, Salter chronicles the changes in that institution and his near-death experiences. He also writes of his decision to leave the military and devote himself full time to his writing, hoping that he could somehow support his wife and family. "It was the most difficult act of my life," he writes. But it paid off, not only in literary acclaim, but in sidelights such as writing for the screen and the theater (the subject of "Passionate Falsehoods," a deliciously acerbic 1997 New Yorker piece about observing from the periphery of the film world) and making documentaries. "There is something called the true life," writes Salter, "which I cannot describe and which perhaps varies as one sees it from different angles and at different times." Taken together, these pieces attest to a true life, a life well-lived and well-written.

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November 1, 2017
Salter (1925-2015), the author, most recently, of All That Is (2013), was a prodigious writer recognized with the PEN/Malamud Award and the Rea Award for the Short Story, among others. This collection brings together some of his previously uncollected journalism from 1974 to 2009. These essays not only chart his development and influences, they also detail a life well lived: the distinguished military career he gave up to pursue writing, his brief time in the film industry, and his love of Paris, Aspen, and skiing. Each essay is enlightening, whether it concerns the development of the artificial heart, mountain climbing, his appreciation of the Italian poet Gabriele D'Annunzio, the tragic life of the Russian writer Isaac Babel, or his intimate profiles of Vladimir Nabokov and Graham Greene. These essays offer a fascinating window into the experiences of Salter's generation, and the wars, presidents, and writers who helped to shape his worldview. Not only for Salter's fans, Don't Save Anything is for anyone interested in the varied topics he discusses and American literature.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)