Great Regulars: Mr. [Alfred] Kazin, who remains a solid source

of commentary on American fiction, suggested in 1973 that Mr. [J.D.] Salinger stopped writing because he feared the critics.

"Salinger is outraged by the very act of criticism," said Mr. Kazin, and "wants only readers who are faithful loving friends, like his editors at the New Yorker and the armies of young people who gratefully recognized themselves in 'The Catcher in the Rye.'

"He would rather be silent at the moment than to see his imaginative world profaned by criticism."

from Bob Hoover: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Salinger's cryogenic legacy

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