Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour

An Introduction

This volume collects two linked novellas about Seymour Glass, the eldest child in J. D. Salinger's fictional Glass family. In Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters, Buddy Glass recalls the chaotic day of Seymour's wedding in 1942, when the groom fails to appear and the guests become increasingly agitated. Seymour: An Introduction shifts to Buddy's reflective, digressive attempt to portray his brother's character, poetry, and spiritual outlook. Together, the stories examine family memory, artistic sensitivity, and the difficulty of truly knowing another person.

by J. D. Salinger

little, brown and company · First published 1963 · 262 pages