For Esmé—with Love and Squalor (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: J. D. Salinger
- First Published: 1950
- Type of Work: Short story
- Genres: Psychological fiction, Short fiction
- Subjects: Children, Philosophy or philosophers, Love or romance, World War II, Weddings, Sacrifice
- Locales: Bavaria, Dover, England
“For Esmé—with Love and Squalor” was first published in The New Yorker, to critical acclaim. The story opens with a man receiving an invitation to a wedding that he would like to attend but cannot. He then proceeds to reminisce about being a soldier in England in 1944, taking a training course in Devon, England. Out walking at the end of the course, before shipping out to battle, he wanders the town and stumbles upon a children's choir rehearsal. He is enchanted by the singing in general and in particular by a thirteen-year-old girl in the choir. He leaves the rehearsal...
[The entire page is 827 words long]
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