Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction (1963)

USA
Short Story Collection
Author: J. D. Salinger

Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters (1955) and Seymour: An Introduction (1959), are a pair of long short stories written by Salinger about the Glass family. The former ostensibly about Buddy Glass, and the latter about Seymour Glass, but quite often it appears that the opposite is true. Although, really, both stories are about the relationship between the two brothers, Buddy and Seymour, or more precisely, Buddy’s recollections of their relationship. The first story is fairly typical of Salinger’s work, particularly his Glass family saga, in that it is tightly written, unfolds over a short space of time, and consists of human interactions (with a playwright’s ear for dialogue.) The second story on the other hand, is quite a departure; it takes the form of a stream of consciousness portrait of Seymour by his brother Buddy, and has a diary-like informality that is quite striking, and eventually rather moving.