Men’s Group - April 2007 “Dropping Out”
Mark K March 10th, 2007
We selected two classics for April, both dealing with characters who “dropped out” in a sense, and then went on a journey searching for something. The book is J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye” and the film is “Five Easy Pieces” starring a young Jack Nicholson. We’re thinking that we’d like to meet somewhere fun again this time. Any ideas? Speaking of dropping out, I just found out that J.D. Salinger is still living! Even though he’s been living in seclusion in New Hampshire and hasn’t given an interview since 1980, I have a feeling that he just might join our discussion if we ask him!
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If you haven’t yet, check out the J.D. Salinger profile in Wikipedia. Why do I think if I met him now he’d be like Jack Kerouac on the William F. Buckley show in 1968–slightly off his rocker? I’ve read Catcher in the Rye twice, once in high school after Mark David Chapman killed John Lennon while holding a copy of it, and later in college. Like a lot of young men, I associated with Holden Caufield. It’ll be interesting to see if I feel the same way as I approach my mid-40s.
Not to spoil Five Easy Pieces for anyone, but I’m sure you’ve all seen this scene many times:
Bobby: I’d like an omelet, plain, and a chicken salad sandwich on wheat toast, no mayonnaise, no butter, no lettuce. And a cup of coffee.
Waitress: A #2, chicken salad sand. Hold the butter, the lettuce, the mayonnaise, and a cup of coffee. Anything else?
Bobby: Yeah, now all you have to do is hold the chicken, bring me the toast, give me a check for the chicken salad sandwich, and you haven’t broken any rules.
Waitress: You want me to hold the chicken, huh?
Bobby: I want you to hold it between your knees.