WEBVTT
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..:: Presented By ZarFilm Website ::..
.:: www.bolboljan.net ::.
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I grew up in
a quiet suburban town,
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just north of New York.
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On special occasions, my dad
would take me into the city,
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and we would go and get dessert
at the Waldorf or the Plaza.
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I loved watching
the people around us.
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They seemed to have
interesting lives.
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I wanted to be one of them.
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I wanted to write novels
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and speak 5 languages
and travel.
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I didn't want to be ordinary.
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I wanted to be
extraordinary.
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Those memories came
storming back to me last year
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when I came to visit
my best friend in New York.
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I was only supposed to
stay a few days,
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and then return to Berkeley,
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where my boyfriend
was waiting on me.
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But something shifted.
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I want to stay in New York
for a while.
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A while?
What do you mean, a while?
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What about your semester?
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Yeah, but see,
that's just it.
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I don't want to analyze other
people's work anymore, Karl.
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I want to write.
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In New York?
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Yeah.
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In New York...
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Isn't that what
aspiring writers did?
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Live in cheap apartments
and write in cafés?
00:02:07.360 --> 00:02:08.860
Yeah, I know.
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But it's what I wanted!
00:02:44.760 --> 00:02:47.400
My boss says
we're going paperless.
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- All emails.
- Hmm.
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It's driving me nuts, with
everyone writing about nothing,
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answering, "Thanks,"
or worse, "You're welcome."
00:02:55.840 --> 00:02:59.540
My colleague sends me emails
to ask me when I'm having lunch.
00:02:59.580 --> 00:03:02.410
I hope this is just a trend
that will phase out.
00:03:02.440 --> 00:03:04.010
I miss your rants.
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Everyone in Berkeley
is so serious
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and into jogging
and wearing Tevas.
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Fucking Tevas!
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I'm like this big cloud
of East Coast irony
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haunting Southern California.
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Hmm, turning
everything into ash.
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- That's me.
- Mmm!
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Does Karl feel the same?
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Um, it's not really
the same for him,
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'cause he's been there
for a couple years,
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and the university sort of
treats him like a star.
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Oh, well...
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Hey, Jenny, um...
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I don't know
exactly how long
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I'm gonna be staying
in New York.
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Don't worry! Just keep
making yourself at home.
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Eat anything.
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OK.
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MA in English literature,
University College in London.
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I suppose that would
make you more appealing
00:04:07.080 --> 00:04:08.450
to some publishers,
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less to most.
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You published poetry?
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Yes, yes,
in The Paris Review.
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I just won
their student contest.
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Leave that out.
00:04:20.660 --> 00:04:22.430
Publishers avoid
wannabe writers.
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Oh. That is what I
wa-want to do, though.
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Event-eventually.
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Oh! I got it!
Not a publisher.
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How about a literary agency?
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Yeah, great!
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The oldest in New York.
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Do you type?
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Uh, I took typing
in, um, 7th grade.
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Of course you don't type.
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She's gonna ask if you type,
and you're gonna say...
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Yes!
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Sixty words a minute.
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But do you type
on a typewriter?
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It's very different from typing
on one of those computers.
00:05:07.140 --> 00:05:08.710
Yes.
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What do you like to read?
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Everything.
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Uh, Lurie, Hammet,
Donald Westlake.
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Hmm...
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I just finished
A Sentimental Education,
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and I loved it.
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It was so contemporary.
I was amazed.
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Gustave Flaubert...
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Oui, c'est très bien,
ma chère,
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but to be in this field,
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you'll need to read
authors who are alive.
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Mmm...
I love Flaubert!
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I like Westlake. He's funny.
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I guess you can
start after Christmas.
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We'll talk
about Jerry then.
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Ah, Jerry!
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I'm sure you've heard
that he's crazy or senile
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or a misanthrope.
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All lies.
He's not the problem.
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It's these people
who relentlessly call
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for his address,
his phone number,
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asking to be put in touch
with him, or even with me!
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Reporters, students,
university deans, producers.
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They can be persuasive,
manipulative.
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But, you must
never, ever
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give out his address.
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Do you understand?
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I understand.
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Good.
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Remember, there's no shortage
of college graduates
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who want this job.
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Be prepared
for long hours.
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Pam will give you a key.
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Pam. OK.
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Thank you so much.
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I can't tell you how
honored and thrilled I am.
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No need to
be honored.
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Thrilled, maybe.
Margaret is pretty thrilling.
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I'm Daniel, by the way.
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She'll be starting
after the holidays, January.
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That Jerry!
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Ah...
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I didn't know yet
what a literary agency was,
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but felt like
I'd stepped closer
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to the world of writers.
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I was to be surrounded
by godlike literary names.
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No doubt, their proximity
would inspire my own writing.
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Well, congratulations
on your new job.
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Here is your key.
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Do not lose it.
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We will expect you at
8:00 a.m. sharp, January 8.
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I never went
back to Berkeley.
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New York was to be my new home,
writing, my new life,
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with a coveted job
to pay the rent.
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- Hi!
- Hey!
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Um... Hey!
Come, come, come join us.
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- Hi!
- Hi, hi, Mark.
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- Everyone, this is Joanna.
- I'm Joanna. Yeah, hi!
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And this is Mark.
This is Lisa.
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They, uh,
they just got engaged
00:08:08.990 --> 00:08:10.250
so, uh, we're celebrating.
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Oh, wow!
Oh my goodness!
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Congratulations!
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It's fake.
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Sit... sit... sit down.
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The office is incredible.
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It's like nothing's
changed since 1927.
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And, um, guess who
my boss represents.
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- Anne Rice?
- The Pope.
00:08:26.100 --> 00:08:29.040
- Thomas Pynchon.
- J.D. Salinger.
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- No way!
- He's still alive?
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Yeah, he is.
00:08:31.570 --> 00:08:34.910
He lives up in New Hampshire,
in basically total isolation.
00:08:34.940 --> 00:08:37.750
Reporters are always trying to
ambush him in the local diner
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or try to sneak
onto his property.
00:08:39.150 --> 00:08:40.380
I love Catcher in the Rye.
00:08:40.420 --> 00:08:42.050
Franny and Zooey
is my favorite.
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My friend Kat used to
work at his publisher's.
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And, one night,
she was working late,
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like, 1:00 a.m. late,
00:08:48.260 --> 00:08:51.160
and the phone rings in
the office and keeps ringing.
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So she picks it up,
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and she heard
someone screaming.
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The manuscript is OK!
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I saved the manuscript
from the fire!
00:09:01.000 --> 00:09:02.040
Salinger?
00:09:02.070 --> 00:09:04.070
His house had burned down,
00:09:04.110 --> 00:09:06.180
and he called in
the middle of the night,
00:09:06.210 --> 00:09:08.180
assuming someone
would be at the office.
00:09:08.210 --> 00:09:09.310
Isn't that crazy?
00:09:09.350 --> 00:09:12.050
I read he still writes,
but doesn't want to publish.
00:09:12.080 --> 00:09:13.820
Writing makes you a writer.
00:09:13.850 --> 00:09:15.090
Publishing is commerce.
00:09:15.120 --> 00:09:17.350
That is such a
crock of shit, Don!
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This is some pre-emptive
strike argument
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in case he never
sells a novel,
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if you ever finish.
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I will, but today
is about Joanna
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and her crossing
to the dark side
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with the book merchants.
00:09:28.030 --> 00:09:29.930
- Cheers!
- Cheers!
00:09:29.970 --> 00:09:31.370
Thanks!
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I had met Don days earlier
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in a socialist bookstore
where he worked part time.
00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:40.010
Haven't seen you
around here before.
00:09:40.040 --> 00:09:40.910
Let me guess.
00:09:40.940 --> 00:09:43.950
You're an intern
at The New Yorker?
00:09:43.980 --> 00:09:47.280
Besides fighting materialism
and raising class awareness,
00:09:47.320 --> 00:09:50.490
Don was into boxing,
Norman Mailer and...
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Yeah, I'm writing a novel.
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He was straightforward
about being a writer.
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I admired his confidence.
00:09:56.090 --> 00:09:58.930
Do you know the Panama Café?
00:09:58.960 --> 00:10:01.530
It's on Avenue A. It's kind of
like a writers' hangout.
00:10:01.560 --> 00:10:03.230
I do, actually,
yeah, they have...
00:10:03.270 --> 00:10:04.900
Poetry readings.
00:10:06.500 --> 00:10:08.970
Love is the one
who's hard to find.
00:10:09.000 --> 00:10:11.240
Love's the one
who knows your mind.
00:10:11.270 --> 00:10:13.380
Love's the one
who feeds your soul.
00:10:13.410 --> 00:10:16.950
Love's the one
to have and hold.
00:10:16.980 --> 00:10:18.980
But hold a minute. Hold how?
00:10:19.010 --> 00:10:22.890
There's a hundred hungry ways
to hold her up or hold her down.
00:10:22.920 --> 00:10:24.850
Will she still be able
to get around?
00:10:24.890 --> 00:10:28.060
Will she be able
to hold her ground?
00:10:28.090 --> 00:10:31.260
So she digs down deep
to the bottom of the box
00:10:31.290 --> 00:10:33.530
to find the original
hide of the fox.
00:10:33.560 --> 00:10:35.330
And it's there, all right.
00:10:35.360 --> 00:10:37.200
Where the hell
were you?
00:10:37.230 --> 00:10:38.900
Cut the goddamn grass today,
00:10:38.940 --> 00:10:41.240
or else I'm selling
your K-car, you hear?
00:10:50.850 --> 00:10:53.080
Dear Mr. Salinger,
00:10:53.120 --> 00:10:55.220
I read your book
The Catcher In the Rye
00:10:55.250 --> 00:10:56.520
3 times now.
00:10:56.550 --> 00:10:59.420
It's a masterpiece,
and I hope you're proud of it.
00:10:59.460 --> 00:11:01.220
I mean, you certainly
should be.
00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:04.990
Most of the crap
that's written today
00:11:05.030 --> 00:11:07.230
is so uncompelling,
it makes me sick.
00:11:07.260 --> 00:11:09.170
I mean, not too many people
write anything
00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:10.530
that even approaches sincerity.
00:11:10.570 --> 00:11:11.670
And I don't mean to say
00:11:11.700 --> 00:11:13.970
that everyone who reads
your book gets it,
00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:15.270
not at all.
00:11:15.300 --> 00:11:16.910
Lots of people don't.
00:11:18.170 --> 00:11:20.440
I mean, I can give you
plenty of idiotic examples,
00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:21.410
but I won't.
00:11:23.650 --> 00:11:26.620
You might be laughing out loud
right now at the thought,
00:11:26.650 --> 00:11:29.350
but I think I get it.
00:11:29.380 --> 00:11:31.020
Maybe I don't.
00:11:35.190 --> 00:11:36.490
Hello!
00:11:53.210 --> 00:11:55.580
Well, you're here.
00:11:55.610 --> 00:11:56.580
I am!
00:11:58.080 --> 00:11:59.950
We know you can type, hooray!
00:11:59.980 --> 00:12:02.550
But have you ever
used a dictaphone?
00:12:03.650 --> 00:12:05.020
At ease.
00:12:06.150 --> 00:12:07.460
It can be tricky at first,
00:12:07.490 --> 00:12:09.230
but I'm sure you'll
get the hang of it.
00:12:11.090 --> 00:12:15.000
Play, rewind, and I think
those control speed.
00:12:15.030 --> 00:12:16.330
Hugh can help.
00:12:16.370 --> 00:12:17.400
Hugh...
00:12:17.430 --> 00:12:19.130
You can get
started with these.
00:12:22.370 --> 00:12:25.240
This is our technological area.
00:12:25.270 --> 00:12:27.280
It is all very new.
00:12:27.310 --> 00:12:29.310
This is the Xerox
machine you'll use
00:12:29.350 --> 00:12:31.450
to make copies
of my correspondence.
00:12:31.480 --> 00:12:35.150
I believe that is the button
you press to make a copy.
00:12:35.180 --> 00:12:36.550
Did she give you her speech
00:12:36.590 --> 00:12:38.490
about the evils
of the digital age yet?
00:12:38.520 --> 00:12:40.660
Max, this is Joanna,
my new assistant.
00:12:40.690 --> 00:12:42.160
- Hello, Joanna!
- Max.
00:12:42.190 --> 00:12:43.590
- Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
00:12:43.630 --> 00:12:45.130
Um...
00:12:46.260 --> 00:12:48.060
So, there are no computers?
00:12:48.100 --> 00:12:50.270
We choose not
to use computers.
00:12:50.300 --> 00:12:52.070
I've seen them in action.
00:12:52.100 --> 00:12:55.170
They just make more work
for everyone, wasting time.
00:12:55.200 --> 00:12:57.410
All right.
00:12:57.440 --> 00:13:01.980
As you can see, we have a
relaxed, cordial environment.
00:13:02.010 --> 00:13:04.950
We ask that you don't
wear dungarees, sneakers,
00:13:04.980 --> 00:13:07.980
T-shirts, sweatshirts,
especially the kind with hoods.
00:13:08.020 --> 00:13:09.250
No open-toed shoes,
00:13:09.280 --> 00:13:12.620
but it's perfectly fine to wear
trousers if you're a woman,
00:13:12.650 --> 00:13:15.120
and no need to wear
stockings in the summer.
00:13:15.160 --> 00:13:17.290
Bare legs are perfectly fine.
00:13:17.330 --> 00:13:19.560
And if Jerry calls,
you just say:
00:13:19.600 --> 00:13:22.230
"Yes, Jerry, I will
let my boss know."
00:13:22.260 --> 00:13:24.070
Jerry Salinger?
00:13:24.100 --> 00:13:25.700
Well, of course,
Jerry Salinger.
00:13:25.740 --> 00:13:28.340
And above all,
you never, ever call him.
00:13:28.370 --> 00:13:31.410
Why would I
call Jerry Salinger?
00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:33.480
Jerry doesn't
want to hear about
00:13:33.510 --> 00:13:35.540
how much you loved
The Catcher in the Rye.
00:13:35.580 --> 00:13:38.350
And he doesn't want
to read your stories.
00:13:38.380 --> 00:13:40.180
- I don't have stories.
- Good.
00:13:40.220 --> 00:13:42.550
Writers make
the worst assistants.
00:13:42.590 --> 00:13:44.420
Get to work.
00:13:58.670 --> 00:14:01.070
The proprietor hereby grants
00:14:01.100 --> 00:14:02.240
to the publisher...
00:14:03.470 --> 00:14:06.140
...starting from the date
of this agreement.
00:14:06.170 --> 00:14:08.080
The proprietor...
00:14:08.110 --> 00:14:10.550
I'm Hugh.
You must be Joanna.
00:14:10.580 --> 00:14:12.350
Yes, hi!
Nice to meet you.
00:14:12.380 --> 00:14:14.550
If you need anything,
I'm right here.
00:14:14.580 --> 00:14:19.290
I take care of contracts, legal,
copyrights, the fun stuff.
00:14:20.460 --> 00:14:23.560
Salinger's letters, fan mail.
00:14:23.590 --> 00:14:28.600
You need to answer
them using these.
00:14:28.630 --> 00:14:30.770
There's one for
each type of inquiry:
00:14:30.800 --> 00:14:33.400
adaptation, autobiography,
00:14:33.440 --> 00:14:36.240
autograph,
photograph, interview...
00:14:38.270 --> 00:14:40.510
celebrity auction.
00:14:42.140 --> 00:14:44.610
"Mr. Salinger does not wish to
receive mail from his readers.
00:14:44.650 --> 00:14:47.120
Thus we cannot pass
your kind note on to him."
00:14:47.150 --> 00:14:48.780
1963?
00:14:48.820 --> 00:14:51.750
That's the year he
stopped responding himself.
00:14:51.790 --> 00:14:55.120
You need to type the new one
based exactly on this, verbatim.
00:14:55.160 --> 00:14:56.630
No change.
00:14:56.660 --> 00:14:59.230
So, Salinger doesn't
get any of his mail?
00:14:59.260 --> 00:15:03.100
Not one, you shred them
in the shredder.
00:15:03.130 --> 00:15:04.470
You should always read them.
00:15:04.500 --> 00:15:05.840
Yes, indeed.
00:15:05.870 --> 00:15:08.140
- Just in case.
- Just in case.
00:15:08.170 --> 00:15:09.700
In case of what?
00:15:09.740 --> 00:15:13.540
We've been extra careful since
the Marc David Chapman thing.
00:15:13.580 --> 00:15:15.750
John Lennon's assassin.
00:15:15.780 --> 00:15:17.810
When the police arrived
at the Dakota,
00:15:17.850 --> 00:15:20.080
they found Chapman calmly
sitting on the sidewalk
00:15:20.120 --> 00:15:21.480
reading Catcher in the Rye.
00:15:21.520 --> 00:15:23.750
At his trial,
00:15:23.790 --> 00:15:26.620
Chapman said that the big part
of him was Holden Caulfield.
00:15:26.650 --> 00:15:28.560
And the small
part of him was...
00:15:31.560 --> 00:15:33.100
the devil.
00:15:38.430 --> 00:15:41.370
Did Chapman write to Salinger?
00:15:41.400 --> 00:15:44.770
We'll never know,
since we throw away the mail.
00:15:44.810 --> 00:15:48.240
Read everything
thoroughly.
00:15:48.280 --> 00:15:49.810
Use your judgment.
00:16:17.670 --> 00:16:19.480
I think about Holden a lot.
00:16:20.610 --> 00:16:22.140
When I first think about him,
00:16:22.180 --> 00:16:24.150
I get a stupid grin
on my face, you know...
00:16:25.350 --> 00:16:27.480
thinking about what
a funny guy he is and all.
00:16:29.220 --> 00:16:31.520
But then I usually get
depressed as hell...
00:16:32.650 --> 00:16:34.320
'cause I only
think about Holden
00:16:34.360 --> 00:16:35.860
when I'm feeling
very emotional, and...
00:16:37.360 --> 00:16:39.300
I can get quite emotional.
00:16:41.860 --> 00:16:44.230
"I can get quite emotional."
00:16:46.670 --> 00:16:48.170
This boy is so earnest.
00:16:49.340 --> 00:16:51.440
A major loser
is what he is.
00:16:52.540 --> 00:16:53.640
Hey! He is not!
00:16:53.680 --> 00:16:54.680
He is.
00:16:54.710 --> 00:16:56.380
He's very sweet.
00:16:56.410 --> 00:16:57.910
He's a little funny,
00:16:57.950 --> 00:17:00.250
but he's sweet
and he cares so much.
00:17:00.280 --> 00:17:02.190
I can't send him
a letter that says:
00:17:02.220 --> 00:17:04.550
"Dear kid, Mr. Salinger
has no interest in you,
00:17:04.590 --> 00:17:05.790
so please fuck off!"
00:17:06.790 --> 00:17:08.930
Look, this one is
from the Netherlands:
00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:12.200
"Me and my wife traced Holden's
steps around New York.
00:17:12.230 --> 00:17:13.900
"Did you know that
the ducks in Central Park
00:17:13.930 --> 00:17:15.500
stay through winter?"
00:17:15.530 --> 00:17:18.800
Oh my God, they're literally
a bunch of obsessive freaks!
00:17:24.610 --> 00:17:27.310
I haven't read
Catcher in the Rye.
00:17:27.340 --> 00:17:28.640
You're kidding.
00:17:29.810 --> 00:17:31.850
I haven't read any Salinger.
00:17:33.820 --> 00:17:35.520
Wow!
00:17:35.550 --> 00:17:37.920
Everybody's read Catcher
at the very least.
00:17:37.950 --> 00:17:40.520
Yeah, well, at the risk
of disappointing you,
00:17:40.560 --> 00:17:43.730
there are actually a few writers
that I have yet to read.
00:17:43.760 --> 00:17:45.560
Well, I'm shocked.
00:17:46.860 --> 00:17:48.970
Hey, look, this girl is ready
to go to bed with him.
00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:50.970
He's 70-something.
00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:52.500
Don't be naive!
00:17:52.530 --> 00:17:55.470
Good literature is
a powerful aphrodisiac.
00:17:57.910 --> 00:18:00.940
I never had that
teenage Salinger moment.
00:18:00.980 --> 00:18:03.350
We never read
Catcher in the Rye at school,
00:18:03.380 --> 00:18:05.980
and later, I was interested
in difficult, gritty fiction.
00:18:07.720 --> 00:18:09.020
Hey, hon!
00:18:09.050 --> 00:18:12.020
Uh, Jenny's not
here right now.
00:18:12.050 --> 00:18:14.390
Oh! I'll be in the kitchen.
00:18:14.420 --> 00:18:16.990
I imagined Salinger's books
00:18:17.030 --> 00:18:21.960
to be insufferably cute,
quirky and precious.
00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:23.700
I didn't want
to be entertained.
00:18:23.730 --> 00:18:25.570
I wanted to be provoked.
00:18:46.460 --> 00:18:47.990
Every morning!
00:18:48.020 --> 00:18:51.430
My shoulder hurts from
carrying all those manuscripts.
00:18:51.460 --> 00:18:53.260
- Hey, Joanna!
- Hi!
00:18:54.730 --> 00:18:57.570
Oh! I found a writer for
Max out of the slush pile.
00:18:57.600 --> 00:18:58.670
The stories are so good.
00:18:58.700 --> 00:19:01.600
I read them last night,
and I was sobbing by the end.
00:19:06.710 --> 00:19:08.580
What's the slush pile?
00:19:08.610 --> 00:19:10.510
The slush pile?
00:19:10.550 --> 00:19:12.050
OK, it's like
the most amazing
00:19:12.080 --> 00:19:13.820
and most horrible
part of our job.
00:19:13.850 --> 00:19:16.450
The stacks of manuscripts
nobody wants to read.
00:19:16.490 --> 00:19:18.790
Basically, it's all the
unsolicited query letters,
00:19:18.820 --> 00:19:20.960
people with no referral
who write to agents cold.
00:19:20.990 --> 00:19:23.790
The slush pile is,
like, 99% crazy shit,
00:19:23.830 --> 00:19:26.530
though some of it
is seriously hilarious.
00:19:26.560 --> 00:19:30.100
But very, very occasionally,
you find something amazing.
00:19:32.430 --> 00:19:35.100
Your boss doesn't
let you read?
00:19:35.140 --> 00:19:36.910
I can read manuscripts,
00:19:36.940 --> 00:19:38.910
should that be something
that interests you,
00:19:38.940 --> 00:19:40.840
at home on my free time,
of course!
00:19:40.880 --> 00:19:42.710
Manuscripts?
00:19:45.050 --> 00:19:46.520
No.
00:19:49.420 --> 00:19:51.350
Tabs, wrong.
00:19:51.390 --> 00:19:52.620
Margins, wrong.
00:19:52.650 --> 00:19:54.420
Proper names, wrong.
00:19:54.460 --> 00:19:55.790
Really, everything wrong.
00:19:55.820 --> 00:19:58.790
You can start re-typing today.
00:19:58.830 --> 00:20:02.600
And here, as a bonus,
is today's dictation.
00:20:03.930 --> 00:20:04.970
That...
00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:06.600
Forget about manuscripts.
00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:08.670
You need to get that right.
00:20:12.740 --> 00:20:14.410
Is it on?
00:20:14.440 --> 00:20:15.750
Uh, no.
00:20:17.010 --> 00:20:20.620
As you know, I believe
that computers make work
00:20:20.650 --> 00:20:22.550
rather than alleviate it,
00:20:22.580 --> 00:20:25.390
but I agreed to install one
in the office,
00:20:25.420 --> 00:20:27.060
on a trial basis, because...
00:20:27.090 --> 00:20:29.060
It came in an elegant black.
00:20:29.090 --> 00:20:32.900
Because Hugh discovered
that people...
00:20:32.930 --> 00:20:34.460
I don't know
who these people are
00:20:34.500 --> 00:20:36.060
or why they don't have
more important things
00:20:36.100 --> 00:20:37.870
to do with their lives...
00:20:37.900 --> 00:20:40.970
but people have been publishing
whole Salinger stories
00:20:41.000 --> 00:20:43.970
on their personal e-webs.
00:20:44.010 --> 00:20:45.110
Web logs.
00:20:46.210 --> 00:20:47.810
Web logs...
Ridiculous!
00:20:47.840 --> 00:20:50.650
This is blatant
copyright infringement,
00:20:50.680 --> 00:20:53.750
and we're going to have to
scour the World Wide Web
00:20:53.780 --> 00:20:55.080
to put an end to it.
00:20:55.120 --> 00:20:58.790
And that is all the computer
is to be used for.
00:20:58.820 --> 00:21:02.120
Sorry to interrupt.
Just passing through.
00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:04.460
Don't mean to cause a fuss.
00:21:07.760 --> 00:21:09.600
We can turn it off now.
00:21:09.630 --> 00:21:11.800
- Uh, it's already off.
- OK, good.
00:21:11.830 --> 00:21:13.800
And maybe the little coat
that goes over it.
00:21:13.840 --> 00:21:15.670
I've seen it in pictures.
Thank you, Max.
00:21:15.700 --> 00:21:17.040
I'm afraid we don't have a...
00:21:20.180 --> 00:21:24.880
There were hundreds of us,
thousands maybe, all girls,
00:21:24.910 --> 00:21:28.520
working at literary agencies
or publishing houses.
00:21:28.550 --> 00:21:30.690
We answered calls
for our bosses,
00:21:30.720 --> 00:21:33.920
ushered in the writers,
fetched them water...
00:21:33.960 --> 00:21:37.890
never belying the fact that we
wanted to be writers ourselves.
00:21:37.930 --> 00:21:40.030
We whispered about
the lucky ones,
00:21:40.060 --> 00:21:42.870
the ones who were
mentored by their bosses,
00:21:42.900 --> 00:21:46.030
who were allowed
to take on books or clients,
00:21:46.070 --> 00:21:49.100
the ones who broke the rules
to show initiative...
00:21:51.770 --> 00:21:54.510
...the ones who wanted it
badly enough.
00:21:54.540 --> 00:21:56.950
Please find two copies
00:21:56.980 --> 00:21:59.180
of the contract with
St. Martin publishing.
00:22:00.650 --> 00:22:04.050
Let's face it.
I was a secretary.
00:22:29.780 --> 00:22:31.580
Hello?
00:22:31.610 --> 00:22:33.150
Hello? Hello?
00:22:33.180 --> 00:22:34.820
Hello?
00:22:34.850 --> 00:22:37.890
Speaking to? It's Jerry.
00:22:39.290 --> 00:22:40.990
Hello, Mr. Salinger!
00:22:41.020 --> 00:22:42.730
Who is this?
00:22:42.760 --> 00:22:44.530
This is Joanna.
00:22:44.560 --> 00:22:45.630
Who?
00:22:45.660 --> 00:22:46.830
I... I'm Joanna.
00:22:46.860 --> 00:22:48.760
I'm... I'm Margaret's
new assistant.
00:22:48.800 --> 00:22:50.930
Oh, Margaret's new assistant!
00:22:50.970 --> 00:22:52.600
Nice to meet you, Suzanna.
00:22:52.630 --> 00:22:53.870
How do you like your job?
00:22:53.900 --> 00:22:55.140
I love it!
00:22:55.170 --> 00:22:58.610
Good to hear. I'm calling
to speak to your boss.
00:22:58.640 --> 00:23:00.640
Unfortunately,
she's not in right now.
00:23:00.680 --> 00:23:02.310
Um, can I leave her a message?
00:23:02.340 --> 00:23:04.750
Oh, no, I'll call back.
00:23:04.780 --> 00:23:06.620
Well, I'm sure you
have a lot of work.
00:23:06.650 --> 00:23:08.780
It was very nice
talking to you, Suzanna.
00:23:08.820 --> 00:23:11.290
I'm looking forward
to meeting you in person.
00:23:11.320 --> 00:23:12.890
You too.
00:23:13.960 --> 00:23:15.190
Have a great day!
00:23:15.220 --> 00:23:16.590
Goodbye!
00:23:22.100 --> 00:23:23.730
I never say:
"Have a great day."
00:23:23.760 --> 00:23:24.870
Jerry?
00:23:26.070 --> 00:23:28.340
He's deaf. An explosion
during the war.
00:23:28.370 --> 00:23:29.340
She just left?
00:23:29.370 --> 00:23:30.870
Yes.
00:23:30.910 --> 00:23:32.170
Better go tell her.
00:23:39.610 --> 00:23:40.880
Quicker.
00:23:44.890 --> 00:23:47.060
Margaret!
00:23:47.090 --> 00:23:49.020
Sorry! I'm sorry
to disturb you.
00:23:49.060 --> 00:23:50.990
You just got a call from...
00:23:51.030 --> 00:23:52.830
Your client just called.
00:23:54.060 --> 00:23:55.700
I wonder
which one!
00:23:55.730 --> 00:23:57.600
I have to take this.
00:23:57.630 --> 00:24:00.670
Go ahead, Books. I'll wait
for you at the restaurant.
00:24:00.700 --> 00:24:02.970
You did the
right thing.
00:24:03.000 --> 00:24:05.270
Salinger wants to
publish a book.
00:24:08.310 --> 00:24:10.710
The press is
gonna go nuts.
00:24:10.750 --> 00:24:12.010
No press. No one must know.
00:24:12.050 --> 00:24:13.210
That's our job.
00:24:13.250 --> 00:24:15.850
So it's true.
He's been writing.
00:24:15.880 --> 00:24:18.250
Well, no, it's an
old story, Hapworth.
00:24:18.290 --> 00:24:20.990
A publisher,
Clifford Bradbury,
00:24:21.020 --> 00:24:24.260
approached him to publish it
as a stand-alone book.
00:24:24.290 --> 00:24:27.630
He has been thinking
about it for 8 years.
00:24:27.660 --> 00:24:30.130
The publisher wrote
to him back in '88.
00:24:30.170 --> 00:24:33.300
Jerry liked the fact that
he wrote on a typewriter.
00:24:33.330 --> 00:24:35.740
How did he get
Jerry's address?
00:24:35.770 --> 00:24:37.370
He addressed it
to J.D. Salinger,
00:24:37.410 --> 00:24:38.410
Cornish, New Hampshire.
00:24:38.440 --> 00:24:39.670
Postman delivered it!
00:24:40.740 --> 00:24:41.780
That's brilliant.
00:24:41.810 --> 00:24:44.180
Wait, wait, wait, Margaret.
00:24:44.210 --> 00:24:46.350
What kind of publisher is this?
00:24:46.380 --> 00:24:48.680
It can't be Little, Brown
or any major house.
00:24:48.720 --> 00:24:50.190
They would have
just called you.
00:24:50.220 --> 00:24:52.150
Oh boy! You're gonna
love this, Max.
00:24:52.190 --> 00:24:54.760
It is a tiny press
in Virginia.
00:24:54.790 --> 00:24:58.230
Kind of a one-man operation:
Merrygold Press.
00:24:58.260 --> 00:25:00.060
Merrybells Press?
00:25:00.090 --> 00:25:03.770
Yes, that's it.
You know them?
00:25:03.800 --> 00:25:06.670
They publish poetry,
and I like few of their poets.
00:25:08.370 --> 00:25:10.000
Are you fucking
kidding me?
00:25:10.040 --> 00:25:12.240
A one-man press
is going to publish
00:25:12.270 --> 00:25:13.940
the first book
from Salinger
00:25:13.980 --> 00:25:15.140
in 3 decades?
00:25:15.180 --> 00:25:16.950
That's fucked.
00:25:16.980 --> 00:25:18.850
Publishing Salinger
is different
00:25:18.880 --> 00:25:19.980
than publishing poetry.
00:25:20.010 --> 00:25:21.180
Thank you.
00:25:21.220 --> 00:25:23.720
Obviously, we have to
proceed carefully.
00:25:23.750 --> 00:25:27.460
Find out everything we can
about this Clifford Bradbury.
00:25:27.490 --> 00:25:28.760
I'll call him.
00:25:28.790 --> 00:25:30.190
I won't mention Salinger,
00:25:30.230 --> 00:25:33.290
and I'll ask for his catalogue
and a sample for our records.
00:25:33.330 --> 00:25:35.730
Good thinking.
00:25:35.760 --> 00:25:39.030
Hugh, get me the contract
with The New Yorker, please.
00:25:42.840 --> 00:25:43.940
What's Hapworth?
00:25:45.810 --> 00:25:48.810
It was published in
The New Yorker in '65.
00:25:48.840 --> 00:25:50.310
Took up almost
the whole magazine.
00:25:50.340 --> 00:25:53.780
- Let me see.
- Pretty common in those days.
00:25:53.810 --> 00:25:56.780
Esquire did it, Cosmo.
00:25:56.820 --> 00:26:01.360
That's where I got my start.
Buying stories for a magazine.
00:26:01.390 --> 00:26:03.290
For Cosmo?
00:26:03.320 --> 00:26:05.360
For Playboy.
00:26:06.430 --> 00:26:09.100
How did you end up
working for Playboy?
00:26:09.130 --> 00:26:13.030
Enough chit-chat, Joanna.
Back to work.
00:26:13.070 --> 00:26:14.870
Hi! Is this Clifford Bradbury?
00:26:15.970 --> 00:26:17.840
Hi! This is Joanna Rakoff.
00:26:17.870 --> 00:26:20.140
I work for A & F
Literary Management.
00:26:20.180 --> 00:26:21.380
The job of an agent
00:26:21.410 --> 00:26:24.810
is to open up opportunities
for their clients.
00:26:24.850 --> 00:26:29.220
But when it came to Salinger,
the logic was reversed.
00:26:29.250 --> 00:26:32.490
We had to shield him
from the outside world,
00:26:32.520 --> 00:26:35.890
bolstering his reputation
as a complicated recluse.
00:26:35.920 --> 00:26:37.090
Yeah, thank you.
00:26:37.130 --> 00:26:38.130
But publishing Hapworth
00:26:38.160 --> 00:26:40.800
was going to get
a lot of attention.
00:26:40.830 --> 00:26:43.300
Nobody understood
his change of heart.
00:26:43.330 --> 00:26:44.870
Night, Jerry.
00:26:44.900 --> 00:26:48.140
Maybe, I thought, I understood.
00:26:48.170 --> 00:26:51.140
Maybe he realized that
what he wanted
00:26:51.170 --> 00:26:52.840
wasn't what he wanted at all.
00:26:54.410 --> 00:26:56.340
I was like:
"Are you serious?"
00:26:56.380 --> 00:26:57.350
She was like:
00:26:57.380 --> 00:26:59.510
"Yeah, he's totally
visiting me in my dreams.
00:26:59.550 --> 00:27:00.750
I think he has a
message for me."
00:27:00.780 --> 00:27:03.920
And I looked to either side
of me to see if anyone heard.
00:27:43.020 --> 00:27:44.930
What are you writing?
00:27:46.030 --> 00:27:48.200
Writing a very bad poem.
00:27:53.200 --> 00:27:57.310
Listen, Bret and I
were talking, and...
00:27:59.510 --> 00:28:01.040
Look...
00:28:02.210 --> 00:28:04.410
When you first
got back to New York,
00:28:04.450 --> 00:28:07.080
and I said that
you could stay here,
00:28:07.110 --> 00:28:10.550
to be honest, I thought you'd
go back to Berkeley with Karl.
00:28:12.090 --> 00:28:13.250
You're kicking me out?
00:28:14.520 --> 00:28:16.490
No, like...
00:28:16.520 --> 00:28:21.230
I'm happy to have you here,
and you can stay if you want,
00:28:21.260 --> 00:28:23.400
but what did you
plan on doing?
00:28:23.430 --> 00:28:25.500
What are your options?
00:28:26.570 --> 00:28:29.970
Oh! Ah!
00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:33.070
We disinfected
the apartment.
00:28:34.210 --> 00:28:38.010
'Cause the man
before had 7 cats.
00:28:38.050 --> 00:28:41.450
But young married
couple like you
00:28:41.480 --> 00:28:43.950
take better
care of it, yeah?
00:28:43.990 --> 00:28:45.350
We're not married.
00:28:45.390 --> 00:28:47.190
The man next door,
00:28:47.220 --> 00:28:50.460
he takes care of
little things if you need.
00:28:50.490 --> 00:28:53.300
He's Mexican. He drinks.
00:28:54.400 --> 00:28:56.300
But he works hard.
00:28:56.330 --> 00:28:58.030
Uh, how much?
00:28:59.100 --> 00:29:00.470
$560.
00:29:00.500 --> 00:29:02.170
We'll think about it!
00:29:02.200 --> 00:29:04.310
No, we'll take it.
00:29:04.340 --> 00:29:06.940
Oh! Good deal!
00:29:06.980 --> 00:29:08.340
You're Jewish, yeah?
00:29:08.380 --> 00:29:09.650
- Me?
- Mmm?
00:29:09.680 --> 00:29:11.110
No.
00:29:11.150 --> 00:29:13.620
I like, very responsible.
00:29:13.650 --> 00:29:15.950
- Hmm.
- Pay on time.
00:29:15.980 --> 00:29:18.950
Uh, let's sign
the paper.
00:29:18.990 --> 00:29:20.960
The lease is gonna
be under her name.
00:29:20.990 --> 00:29:21.960
Hmm?
00:29:24.360 --> 00:29:27.000
Could have just given ourselves
a day to think about it.
00:29:27.030 --> 00:29:29.560
No, this is New York City,
young lady, the big time!
00:29:29.600 --> 00:29:31.430
I barely make $300 a week.
00:29:31.470 --> 00:29:33.470
No, wait, we split
the rent, Buba.
00:29:33.500 --> 00:29:34.970
I'm gonna pay my half.
00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:37.140
I just... I just have to
avoid the credit check.
00:29:38.470 --> 00:29:41.240
Look, I'll take care
of the furniture, all right?
00:29:41.280 --> 00:29:42.510
There's no sink.
00:29:43.580 --> 00:29:44.710
What?
00:29:44.750 --> 00:29:46.350
There's no sink
in the kitchen.
00:29:46.380 --> 00:29:48.450
I knew something was
off about the apartment.
00:29:48.480 --> 00:29:49.950
I couldn't
put my finger on it.
00:29:49.990 --> 00:29:51.090
There's no kitchen sink.
00:29:51.120 --> 00:29:53.690
We just signed a lease for
an apartment with no sink!
00:29:53.720 --> 00:29:55.960
Well, we can do the dishes
in the bathtub.
00:29:55.990 --> 00:29:56.960
It's no big deal.
00:29:56.990 --> 00:29:59.390
There's a tub. Trust me.
00:29:59.430 --> 00:30:01.000
Hey, man!
You coming?
00:30:03.130 --> 00:30:05.300
Ladies and gentlemen...
00:30:18.410 --> 00:30:22.080
Dear Mr. Salinger, please
forgive my bad English.
00:30:22.120 --> 00:30:23.390
I work much at night,
00:30:23.420 --> 00:30:27.060
and I like it because I don't
have to talk to people so much.
00:30:28.320 --> 00:30:30.690
My heart is troubled,
just like Holden Caulfield.
00:30:30.730 --> 00:30:35.300
Holden is like my grandfather,
you know, a no-bullshit man.
00:30:36.460 --> 00:30:39.100
He taught me a lot
about human nature.
00:30:39.130 --> 00:30:42.270
He warned me I would be
disappointed by most people.
00:30:42.300 --> 00:30:43.670
We would be very honored
00:30:43.710 --> 00:30:46.610
if you would serve as our
commencement reader next year.
00:30:46.640 --> 00:30:49.440
We would, of course,
provide you with accommodation
00:30:49.480 --> 00:30:50.580
in a very fine inn,
00:30:50.610 --> 00:30:53.680
where your privacy, which I
know is important to you,
00:30:53.720 --> 00:30:56.150
would be scrupulously respected.
00:30:56.180 --> 00:30:58.020
The fishing helps me.
00:30:58.050 --> 00:31:00.160
A nice refuge
from my nightmares.
00:31:01.290 --> 00:31:03.490
It's been 27 years
since Vietnam.
00:31:05.090 --> 00:31:07.000
They just keep getting worse.
00:31:08.300 --> 00:31:10.430
You know, seeing your
dead friends
00:31:10.470 --> 00:31:13.270
having their guts ripped out...
00:31:13.300 --> 00:31:15.470
Well, I'm sure you must
have similar type dreams,
00:31:15.500 --> 00:31:16.800
being a veteran who...
00:31:16.840 --> 00:31:19.410
"...does not wish to receive
mail from his readers.
00:31:19.440 --> 00:31:22.340
"Thus, we cannot pass along
your kind note to him.
00:31:22.380 --> 00:31:25.480
We thank you for your interest
in Mr. Salinger's book."
00:31:25.510 --> 00:31:27.750
My daughter
died from leukemia.
00:31:27.780 --> 00:31:29.820
She was a talented young writer.
00:31:29.850 --> 00:31:33.160
I'm founding a small
literary magazine in her memory,
00:31:33.190 --> 00:31:35.520
and I'd like permission
to call it Bananafish,
00:31:35.560 --> 00:31:37.060
as Salinger was her fav...
00:31:54.510 --> 00:31:56.580
Titles can't
be copyrighted.
00:31:56.610 --> 00:31:57.580
I could write a novel
00:31:57.610 --> 00:32:00.250
and call it
The Great Gatsby if I wanted to.
00:32:00.280 --> 00:32:03.620
So, yes, she can call
her magazine Bananafish.
00:32:03.650 --> 00:32:05.150
Great!
00:32:05.190 --> 00:32:09.290
But the agency
can't advise her.
00:32:09.320 --> 00:32:10.590
As always...
00:32:10.630 --> 00:32:11.790
Really?
00:32:11.830 --> 00:32:15.130
Yep! I'm just telling you this
for your own edification.
00:32:15.160 --> 00:32:17.160
Send the form letter
and finish shredding.
00:32:17.200 --> 00:32:18.230
That's absurd!
00:32:18.270 --> 00:32:19.600
Well, of course,
you're right.
00:32:19.630 --> 00:32:21.140
She's gonna start
yelling at me
00:32:21.170 --> 00:32:22.370
the minute she's
off the phone.
00:32:23.540 --> 00:32:27.180
A pleasure to talk to you,
Jerry, as always. Goodbye!
00:32:28.380 --> 00:32:29.680
Crap sandwich!
00:32:29.710 --> 00:32:31.210
- Hugh!
- Yes?
00:32:31.250 --> 00:32:33.750
Do you have the Salinger
contract ready?
00:32:33.780 --> 00:32:35.180
Yes, almost there.
00:32:35.220 --> 00:32:36.690
Ask Pam to
call a messenger
00:32:36.720 --> 00:32:39.750
so we can get it over to
The New Yorker before 6:00.
00:32:39.790 --> 00:32:41.620
The New Yorker?
00:32:41.660 --> 00:32:43.190
Yes.
00:32:43.220 --> 00:32:46.230
Probably best if I just
bring it myself then, no?
00:32:49.230 --> 00:32:51.570
I grew up reading
The New Yorker,
00:32:51.600 --> 00:32:53.370
following my father's ritual.
00:32:53.400 --> 00:32:55.600
He would start
with the movie reviews,
00:32:55.640 --> 00:32:58.140
and then turn to
"The Talk of the Town,"
00:32:58.170 --> 00:32:59.410
and then the features.
00:32:59.440 --> 00:33:02.740
In college, everyone was
into The New Yorker.
00:33:07.550 --> 00:33:09.250
Hi!
00:33:09.280 --> 00:33:12.350
My boss wanted me to make sure
this was delivered right away.
00:33:12.390 --> 00:33:13.320
Thank you!
00:33:18.790 --> 00:33:20.660
Can I help you
with something else?
00:33:20.700 --> 00:33:22.730
No. No!
00:33:22.760 --> 00:33:24.430
No, no, that was it, thanks.
00:33:40.580 --> 00:33:43.550
I was at the Algonquin
serving him a martini.
00:33:43.580 --> 00:33:47.620
Anyway, I used my Cosmo ID
to get in the room.
00:33:47.660 --> 00:33:51.660
I recognized the agent.
He did not recognize me.
00:33:51.690 --> 00:33:54.830
And we spent the evening talking
about William's tragic death
00:33:54.860 --> 00:33:55.930
and the agency.
00:33:55.960 --> 00:33:57.300
And?
00:33:57.330 --> 00:33:58.830
And I lost my job at Cosmo
00:33:58.870 --> 00:34:00.700
for not showing up
the next morning.
00:34:02.640 --> 00:34:04.540
But I kept the man's card,
00:34:04.570 --> 00:34:08.280
and a year later, I gave him
a call at the agency...
00:34:08.310 --> 00:34:10.310
Hi...
00:34:10.340 --> 00:34:11.910
...and he hired me.
00:34:11.950 --> 00:34:14.680
And the rest is history.
Joanna, what is it?
00:34:14.720 --> 00:34:16.350
- Is something wrong?
- No.
00:34:16.380 --> 00:34:20.550
She was walking by, looking
cold and hungry and forlorn.
00:34:20.590 --> 00:34:22.360
I invited her in.
Joanna, please sit.
00:34:22.390 --> 00:34:23.890
I don't want to interrupt.
00:34:23.920 --> 00:34:26.590
Don't be silly.
This is my wife, Helen.
00:34:26.630 --> 00:34:27.630
Nice to meet you.
00:34:27.660 --> 00:34:28.960
We were just reminiscing,
00:34:29.000 --> 00:34:30.930
telling tales about
the lost generation:
00:34:30.960 --> 00:34:32.400
Hemingway, Fitzgerald.
00:34:32.430 --> 00:34:34.740
Do you know the agency
represented Fitzgerald?
00:34:34.770 --> 00:34:35.900
Yes, and Dylan Thomas,
00:34:35.940 --> 00:34:37.770
Langston Hughes,
Agatha Christie.
00:34:37.800 --> 00:34:40.570
And you've read all
their work, of course?
00:34:40.610 --> 00:34:42.540
I have, however,
my boss suggests
00:34:42.580 --> 00:34:44.580
that I read writers
that are alive.
00:34:44.610 --> 00:34:47.450
Speaking of living writers,
00:34:47.480 --> 00:34:49.580
are you familiar
with Rachel Cusk?
00:34:49.620 --> 00:34:50.990
Don't take
the bait, Joanna.
00:34:51.020 --> 00:34:52.720
No, I am.
Yes, I am, I am!
00:34:52.750 --> 00:34:54.990
Uh, her first novel,
Saving Agnes, was huge.
00:34:55.020 --> 00:34:57.290
It won the Whitbread, I think.
00:34:57.320 --> 00:35:00.260
And everyone that I knew
in London was reading it.
00:35:00.300 --> 00:35:03.000
It was our lives, basically.
Or it was... it was my... my life.
00:35:03.030 --> 00:35:04.930
What is it about?
00:35:04.970 --> 00:35:06.770
Um...
00:35:06.800 --> 00:35:08.900
Well, it's a coming-of-age
tale, definitely.
00:35:08.940 --> 00:35:11.340
I guess it's about
the ways in which
00:35:11.370 --> 00:35:14.280
women need to get over this
self-loathing of their bodies.
00:35:14.310 --> 00:35:16.780
I'd say it's more
about how the patriarchy
00:35:16.810 --> 00:35:19.550
imposes rigid and terrifying
ideas of femininity
00:35:19.580 --> 00:35:21.550
onto young women,
00:35:21.580 --> 00:35:24.790
how that paralyzes them and
strips them of their dignity.
00:35:24.820 --> 00:35:27.590
I don't know. It doesn't feel
quite that didactic to me.
00:35:27.620 --> 00:35:29.390
It's a very introspective novel.
00:35:29.420 --> 00:35:31.590
It doesn't really read
like social commentary.
00:35:31.630 --> 00:35:35.060
OK. Joanna, meet Rachel Cusk.
00:35:36.330 --> 00:35:37.630
Hello.
00:35:37.670 --> 00:35:40.070
No, no. I'm so sorry.
00:35:40.100 --> 00:35:42.600
It's OK.
It's lovely to meet you.
00:35:42.640 --> 00:35:44.570
You're a novelist yourself?
00:35:44.610 --> 00:35:47.040
Joanna is my assistant.
I don't hire writers.
00:35:47.070 --> 00:35:48.880
- I'm very particular about it.
- Really?
00:35:48.910 --> 00:35:50.810
I thought all
publishing assistants
00:35:50.840 --> 00:35:53.050
were writing novels
at their desks.
00:35:53.080 --> 00:35:55.480
If you can write
a novel at your desk
00:35:55.520 --> 00:35:58.020
while getting coffee for a
tyrant like Margaret, good luck.
00:35:58.050 --> 00:36:00.350
You really have to love it.
00:36:00.390 --> 00:36:02.920
You have to want it more than
anything in the entire world,
00:36:02.960 --> 00:36:04.490
more than a boyfriend
00:36:04.530 --> 00:36:06.700
or a closet full
of pretty dresses
00:36:06.730 --> 00:36:10.000
or a fancy job that
makes everyone jealous.
00:36:10.030 --> 00:36:13.500
You need to be OK
with saying no
00:36:13.530 --> 00:36:14.900
when you're
invited to a party.
00:36:14.940 --> 00:36:16.400
And you really
need to be OK
00:36:16.440 --> 00:36:17.940
with your mother
and father hating you!
00:36:19.410 --> 00:36:21.380
Joanna, don't you have
dictation to finish?
00:36:21.410 --> 00:36:22.940
Yes, I do.
00:36:22.980 --> 00:36:24.550
Margaret...
00:36:24.580 --> 00:36:26.350
Those St. Martin's
contract memos
00:36:26.380 --> 00:36:28.020
need to go out
immediately.
00:36:28.050 --> 00:36:30.380
Absolutely. It was nice
to meet you. Thank you.
00:36:30.420 --> 00:36:31.490
- Bye!
- Goodbye, Joanna!
00:36:31.520 --> 00:36:32.450
Lovely to meet you.
00:36:37.990 --> 00:36:39.460
Ah!
00:37:12.090 --> 00:37:14.560
Hi!
00:37:14.590 --> 00:37:17.130
You got a letter,
00:37:17.170 --> 00:37:19.470
from your high school
sweetheart, Karl.
00:37:22.200 --> 00:37:24.510
Does he know about us?
00:37:26.770 --> 00:37:28.510
Yeah, I'm sure
I mentioned it.
00:37:28.540 --> 00:37:30.110
Joanna, did you
break up with him?
00:37:30.140 --> 00:37:31.650
Like a proper break up:
00:37:31.680 --> 00:37:33.580
"Dear Karl,
it's not you, it's me.
00:37:33.610 --> 00:37:34.880
I'm sorry. It's over."
00:37:34.920 --> 00:37:36.580
You know, the normal stuff?
00:37:36.620 --> 00:37:38.120
We haven't talked in 3 months.
00:37:38.150 --> 00:37:40.620
And he knows that I'm not
going back to California.
00:37:42.120 --> 00:37:44.460
Um...
00:37:44.490 --> 00:37:47.930
Did you talk to the
landlady about the heating?
00:37:47.960 --> 00:37:50.470
"Why do you need a heater?
00:37:50.500 --> 00:37:52.730
Your love should keep you warm."
00:38:22.200 --> 00:38:24.970
I was hoping you might find
the time to write back,
00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:28.040
but I bet you must be
getting a lot of letters.
00:38:28.070 --> 00:38:31.140
But I feel like writing again,
if you don't mind me doing so,
00:38:31.170 --> 00:38:34.840
'cause, um, well,
I feel depressed as hell.
00:38:34.880 --> 00:38:37.180
And I figured it was
the honest thing do.
00:38:38.880 --> 00:38:41.780
Your characters are
the only ones in literature
00:38:41.820 --> 00:38:43.050
who are truly like me.
00:38:43.080 --> 00:38:44.590
I mean, they take action.
00:38:44.620 --> 00:38:46.720
They don't sit around
contemplating suicide.
00:38:46.750 --> 00:38:49.490
They pick up a gun and they
shoot themselves in the head.
00:38:49.520 --> 00:38:51.660
He's challenging Jerry.
00:38:51.690 --> 00:38:53.960
It's a game,
and you're falling for it.
00:38:54.000 --> 00:38:56.600
I feel this boy just
deserves a proper response,
00:38:56.630 --> 00:38:57.700
not our usual bullshit.
00:38:57.730 --> 00:38:59.000
Bullshit?
00:39:00.170 --> 00:39:04.910
You are confusing
judgment with empathy.
00:39:04.940 --> 00:39:08.240
I have read hundreds of
letters just like this one.
00:39:08.280 --> 00:39:13.080
It can get overwhelming,
but just do your job.
00:39:24.930 --> 00:39:26.830
Did you send my letter
to Mr. Salinger?
00:39:26.860 --> 00:39:28.630
Did you send my letter
to Salinger?
00:39:28.660 --> 00:39:30.630
You have no right
to keep my letter!
00:39:31.970 --> 00:39:34.000
You can't read
other people's mail!
00:39:34.030 --> 00:39:36.200
I was at least
expecting a confirmation.
00:39:49.920 --> 00:39:53.550
Dear Mr. Salinger,
I hate school,
00:39:53.590 --> 00:39:55.860
especially English class.
00:39:55.890 --> 00:39:58.760
Catcher in the Rye
is the only book I liked.
00:39:58.790 --> 00:40:01.660
My teacher is going to
make me flunk.
00:40:01.700 --> 00:40:03.900
She says I'll have to
repeat my year,
00:40:03.930 --> 00:40:06.070
and that's gonna be
so embarrassing.
00:40:06.100 --> 00:40:09.000
So I asked her:
"What can I do?"
00:40:09.040 --> 00:40:11.610
"Write a letter to
J.D. Salinger," she told me,
00:40:11.640 --> 00:40:13.710
"and make it so good
that he'll write back.
00:40:13.740 --> 00:40:15.710
If he writes back,
I'll give you an A."
00:40:17.680 --> 00:40:20.710
Please write back
so I can get an A.
00:40:24.050 --> 00:40:26.190
"An A earned by trickery
00:40:26.220 --> 00:40:27.890
"means absolutely nothing.
00:40:27.920 --> 00:40:29.790
"You'll soon find out
that young women
00:40:29.820 --> 00:40:31.630
"are often held
to double standards
00:40:31.660 --> 00:40:33.030
when it comes to success."
00:40:35.400 --> 00:40:38.830
"You need to prove to yourself
and to your peers
00:40:38.870 --> 00:40:41.000
"that you do not need
special treatment.
00:40:42.170 --> 00:40:44.970
"If you desire an A
or a passing grade,
00:40:45.010 --> 00:40:47.740
"you must do the work
assigned to you.
00:40:47.780 --> 00:40:51.610
"And if you want to uphold
the spirit of Holden,
00:40:51.650 --> 00:40:54.350
"try not to care too much
about how people judge you.
00:40:54.380 --> 00:40:57.090
"This might mean
being more humble,
00:40:57.120 --> 00:40:59.020
"but it's the only way.
00:40:59.050 --> 00:41:01.790
Sincerely, Joanna Rakoff."
00:41:08.230 --> 00:41:12.170
You've become quite the expert
in what Salinger would say.
00:41:12.200 --> 00:41:15.840
"If you want to uphold
the spirit of Holden..."
00:41:15.870 --> 00:41:18.070
Have you read
Catcher yet?
00:41:20.110 --> 00:41:21.840
You haven't!
00:41:23.840 --> 00:41:25.350
Unbelievable!
00:41:32.120 --> 00:41:34.390
Bret got accepted
at Case Western.
00:41:34.420 --> 00:41:36.420
Thought he was
going to Brooklyn Law.
00:41:36.460 --> 00:41:40.130
He's from the Midwest.
He misses it, you know?
00:41:40.160 --> 00:41:42.730
So you'll stay here
until he's done?
00:41:42.760 --> 00:41:46.000
Of course not.
I'm going with him.
00:41:46.030 --> 00:41:47.870
We're engaged, remember?
00:41:48.970 --> 00:41:51.940
Hey, you're moving?
00:41:53.410 --> 00:41:56.280
I... I thought you
loved your work?
00:41:56.310 --> 00:41:59.780
I do! But Cleveland
is a cool city.
00:41:59.810 --> 00:42:03.020
We're already looking
for a place in Shaker Heights.
00:42:03.050 --> 00:42:06.750
Wow! The suburbs!
00:42:09.090 --> 00:42:11.260
Have you been
writing lately?
00:42:12.790 --> 00:42:15.130
I don't really
write anymore.
00:42:16.400 --> 00:42:19.970
I know we used to say that
we wanted to become writers,
00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:21.770
but that was
more your thing.
00:42:21.800 --> 00:42:23.140
I kind of
grew out of it.
00:42:27.310 --> 00:42:30.710
You make it sound
like a teenage phase.
00:42:30.750 --> 00:42:32.210
Isn't that what it was?
00:42:32.250 --> 00:42:33.410
I don't understand.
00:42:33.450 --> 00:42:35.320
You'll drop everything
for Bret's project?
00:42:35.350 --> 00:42:37.780
Whoa, Joanna, stop!
00:42:37.820 --> 00:42:39.390
I don't want to be a writer.
00:42:39.420 --> 00:42:41.360
You keep saying
you wanna write,
00:42:41.390 --> 00:42:43.860
but you work long hours
for other writers
00:42:43.890 --> 00:42:45.460
while Don is at
home writing his novel.
00:42:45.490 --> 00:42:47.300
Oh, we both write.
00:42:47.330 --> 00:42:49.460
And we're supportive
of each other's work.
00:42:49.500 --> 00:42:51.470
Well, then I'm
happy for you guys!
00:42:51.500 --> 00:42:53.700
Please be happy for me.
00:42:57.900 --> 00:42:59.240
I'm sorry.
00:43:00.880 --> 00:43:02.280
Um...
00:43:04.780 --> 00:43:08.120
Why don't we go to
the Waldorf and eat dessert?
00:43:08.150 --> 00:43:10.880
Ha! I'll have
the $12 cheesecake.
00:43:10.920 --> 00:43:14.020
Maybe we'll catch my boss on
her martini lunch or something.
00:43:14.050 --> 00:43:15.490
Gotta get
back to work.
00:43:28.470 --> 00:43:31.470
- Everything to your liking?
- Yes. Thank you.
00:44:20.250 --> 00:44:21.960
May I get
you a cab?
00:44:21.990 --> 00:44:24.430
Oh, it's such a nice day.
I think I'll walk.
00:44:24.460 --> 00:44:27.330
It is a beautiful day.
You enjoy it.
00:44:27.360 --> 00:44:29.230
Thanks!
00:44:37.870 --> 00:44:39.210
Hello?
00:44:39.240 --> 00:44:41.980
Hello, Suzanna!
How are you today?
00:44:42.010 --> 00:44:45.180
I'm... I'm great. How are you?
How's the weather in Cornish?
00:44:45.210 --> 00:44:48.420
It's very pleasant.
Uh, tell me something, Suzanna.
00:44:48.450 --> 00:44:50.520
I was looking at those books
00:44:50.550 --> 00:44:54.260
from this fellow Clifford in
Virginia, Merrybells Press.
00:44:54.290 --> 00:44:55.320
Yes...
00:44:55.360 --> 00:44:56.920
What do you think of them?
00:44:56.960 --> 00:44:58.260
Um...
00:44:58.290 --> 00:45:00.490
Honestly, I think
the design isn't great.
00:45:00.530 --> 00:45:04.000
I think they'd really benefit
from hiring a designer.
00:45:04.030 --> 00:45:06.270
Uh, but as far as
the books themselves,
00:45:06.300 --> 00:45:07.900
I've only read a few.
00:45:07.940 --> 00:45:10.370
I do like some of the poets
they publish, though.
00:45:10.400 --> 00:45:12.110
Oh, you read poetry?
00:45:12.140 --> 00:45:14.010
I do, yes, a lot!
00:45:14.040 --> 00:45:15.610
But do you write
poetry yourself?
00:45:15.640 --> 00:45:16.680
I do!
00:45:16.710 --> 00:45:19.080
Well, I'm very glad
to hear that.
00:45:19.110 --> 00:45:21.380
Poetry is food for the soul.
00:45:21.420 --> 00:45:23.250
Never forget that,
00:45:23.280 --> 00:45:24.950
uh, Suzanna.
00:45:24.980 --> 00:45:28.090
Food for the soul.
I've got it!
00:45:28.120 --> 00:45:31.090
Uh, Suzanna, it's important
to write everyday.
00:45:31.130 --> 00:45:32.490
You know that?
00:45:32.530 --> 00:45:35.160
I'll keep that in mind.
00:45:35.190 --> 00:45:37.330
Jerry wants to meet Clifford.
00:45:37.360 --> 00:45:39.030
Gosh!
00:45:40.200 --> 00:45:41.640
We have to find
somewhere discreet.
00:45:41.670 --> 00:45:43.300
Well, it won't be.
00:45:43.340 --> 00:45:46.070
Jerry's driving down to
Washington on Wednesday.
00:45:46.110 --> 00:45:49.140
They're meeting in a cafeteria
at Georgetown University.
00:45:49.180 --> 00:45:51.480
That's awful! Awful!
00:45:51.510 --> 00:45:55.080
Uh, do we trust
this Clifford fellow?
00:45:55.110 --> 00:45:56.320
I don't know.
00:45:56.350 --> 00:46:00.620
So, we're presuming he's
not gonna tip off The Post
00:46:00.650 --> 00:46:03.520
that the world's
most reclusive writer,
00:46:03.560 --> 00:46:05.030
who barely leaves his home,
00:46:05.060 --> 00:46:06.990
who hasn't given an
interview in decades,
00:46:07.030 --> 00:46:08.530
will be having lunch
00:46:08.560 --> 00:46:11.170
at Georgetown University
on Wednesday?
00:46:11.200 --> 00:46:13.430
Yeah.
00:46:13.470 --> 00:46:16.700
You have mentioned this
possibility to Jerry?
00:46:16.740 --> 00:46:20.040
I have not. Jerry thinks
of Clifford as a pal.
00:46:20.070 --> 00:46:22.080
If I say anything
negative about him,
00:46:22.110 --> 00:46:23.680
Jerry will not take it kindly.
00:46:23.710 --> 00:46:25.910
That's it.
Back to work.
00:46:27.250 --> 00:46:32.090
Oh, Joanna, tell me
what you think of this.
00:46:34.490 --> 00:46:36.020
Judy Blume?
00:46:36.060 --> 00:46:37.120
You've heard of her?
00:46:37.160 --> 00:46:38.660
Of course I have!
00:46:38.690 --> 00:46:40.960
I read all of
her books as a kid.
00:46:41.000 --> 00:46:43.160
I love her.
Everyone loves her.
00:46:43.200 --> 00:46:45.230
She was a client of
my predecessor, Claire.
00:46:45.260 --> 00:46:47.100
She's not written
a book in a long time.
00:46:47.130 --> 00:46:49.100
Have you ever
read Judy Blume?
00:46:49.140 --> 00:46:52.310
No. I don't read
children's literature.
00:46:52.340 --> 00:46:54.040
But they're
so wonderful!
00:46:54.070 --> 00:46:57.180
I'm sure! Claire
had impeccable taste.
00:46:58.250 --> 00:47:00.610
You wanna go out?
00:47:00.650 --> 00:47:03.080
We're broke.
00:47:03.120 --> 00:47:06.250
So? We'll split a beer.
00:47:08.190 --> 00:47:10.360
It's open mic night at the KGB.
00:47:12.060 --> 00:47:13.490
What?
00:47:13.530 --> 00:47:16.400
Well, bring a poem.
They'll love you.
00:47:16.430 --> 00:47:18.130
You're not funny.
00:47:19.230 --> 00:47:20.570
I'm not trying to be.
00:47:21.670 --> 00:47:23.700
Your poems are good.
00:47:25.110 --> 00:47:26.770
I have a Judy Blume
manuscript to read.
00:47:26.810 --> 00:47:28.240
Judy Blume?
00:47:29.310 --> 00:47:31.040
Judy fucking Blume?
00:47:32.210 --> 00:47:34.780
I loved Then Again,
Maybe I Won't.
00:47:34.820 --> 00:47:36.580
You like Judy Blume?
00:47:36.620 --> 00:47:38.590
Yeah. I mean,
I was a kid once.
00:47:38.620 --> 00:47:41.250
And like her hero, Tony,
my parents were working class
00:47:41.290 --> 00:47:42.690
and moved to
a middle-class area.
00:47:42.720 --> 00:47:44.360
It's about social class.
00:47:44.390 --> 00:47:46.060
No, it's not!
00:47:47.390 --> 00:47:50.560
It turns you on that
I like pedestrian stuff,
00:47:50.600 --> 00:47:52.630
doesn't it?
00:48:08.510 --> 00:48:10.620
To be given
Judy Blume's new book
00:48:10.650 --> 00:48:13.120
was like going from
sitting in the stands
00:48:13.150 --> 00:48:14.360
to hitting a home run.
00:48:15.620 --> 00:48:17.690
I felt lucky
to be on the inside.
00:48:19.730 --> 00:48:20.830
Well?
00:48:20.860 --> 00:48:22.060
I like it.
00:48:22.100 --> 00:48:23.130
Really?
00:48:23.160 --> 00:48:25.300
But what do
you make of it?
00:48:26.430 --> 00:48:27.700
I'm not sure what you mean.
00:48:27.730 --> 00:48:30.070
Well, it's not
a kids book, is it?
00:48:30.100 --> 00:48:33.310
No, no, it's about
kids for grown-ups.
00:48:33.340 --> 00:48:34.670
It's about female friendship.
00:48:34.710 --> 00:48:38.180
But will adults buy
a book about kids?
00:48:38.210 --> 00:48:39.680
Can I sell it?
00:48:42.550 --> 00:48:44.650
Lots of books have
child protagonists.
00:48:44.690 --> 00:48:45.820
Um, Oliver Twist!
00:48:45.850 --> 00:48:48.560
This is not Oliver Twist.
00:48:48.590 --> 00:48:50.290
But you would buy it?
00:48:50.320 --> 00:48:51.730
I would.
00:48:51.760 --> 00:48:53.560
Hmm...
00:48:53.590 --> 00:48:56.200
Many people would.
00:48:56.230 --> 00:48:58.630
There's the nostalgia factor.
00:48:58.670 --> 00:49:01.540
You know, my entire generation
grew up on Judy Blume.
00:49:02.540 --> 00:49:03.800
Maybe.
00:49:03.840 --> 00:49:05.270
Definitely.
00:49:08.640 --> 00:49:10.480
All right.
You've had your fun.
00:49:14.850 --> 00:49:17.490
I put new tapes
on your desk.
00:49:17.520 --> 00:49:19.320
Close the door.
00:49:27.760 --> 00:49:29.500
I got the deal.
00:49:29.530 --> 00:49:31.430
For sure, she was very happy.
00:49:31.460 --> 00:49:34.600
Judy! Margaret
is expecting you.
00:49:34.630 --> 00:49:36.240
Oh!
00:49:36.270 --> 00:49:38.470
- Coffee?
- No.
00:49:38.510 --> 00:49:40.610
That's very exciting! Yes.
00:49:41.670 --> 00:49:42.880
What is it?
00:49:42.910 --> 00:49:44.310
Judy Blume is here.
00:49:44.340 --> 00:49:46.310
Shit!
00:49:46.350 --> 00:49:48.650
Uh, Michael,
hold on one second.
00:49:48.680 --> 00:49:50.680
That's today?
00:49:50.720 --> 00:49:52.420
I thought we
had more time.
00:49:53.590 --> 00:49:55.360
She's going to
blow this, isn't she?
00:49:55.390 --> 00:49:56.460
I think so.
00:49:57.960 --> 00:49:59.460
Hey!
00:49:59.490 --> 00:50:02.530
We've been renovating,
moving everything around,
00:50:02.560 --> 00:50:05.670
which is why your books are
down there and out of order.
00:50:05.700 --> 00:50:06.900
Don't worry about it.
00:50:06.930 --> 00:50:08.170
I'm Joanna.
00:50:08.200 --> 00:50:09.570
I'm Margaret's
new assistant.
00:50:09.600 --> 00:50:11.670
And I'm such a huge
fan of yours.
00:50:11.710 --> 00:50:13.910
- That's very sweet of you.
- Really nice to meet you.
00:50:13.940 --> 00:50:16.210
- Judy!
- Hi!
00:50:16.240 --> 00:50:18.750
How lovely to see you!
Come into my office.
00:50:18.780 --> 00:50:19.910
Good!
00:50:21.210 --> 00:50:22.720
Please take a seat.
00:50:23.820 --> 00:50:25.190
You know the way.
00:50:26.550 --> 00:50:27.820
So...
00:50:44.870 --> 00:50:47.510
I'm not sure
it could attract readers...
00:50:49.380 --> 00:50:50.480
Joanna?
00:50:51.610 --> 00:50:53.550
Why don't you answer your phone?
00:50:53.580 --> 00:50:55.780
There's someone at the reception
who wants to see you.
00:50:55.820 --> 00:50:57.690
Me?
00:51:05.730 --> 00:51:07.430
Are you Joanna Rakoff?
00:51:07.460 --> 00:51:09.560
- Yes!
- Is that your real name?
00:51:09.600 --> 00:51:10.930
It's so ridiculous,
it sounds fake.
00:51:13.930 --> 00:51:16.440
You have no right to keep
my letter from Salinger.
00:51:16.470 --> 00:51:18.540
I'm sorry. Who are you?
00:51:18.570 --> 00:51:20.510
Because of you,
I'm going to fail English!
00:51:20.540 --> 00:51:21.940
Is everything all right here?
00:51:21.980 --> 00:51:24.410
- Yes.
- No.
00:51:24.440 --> 00:51:26.550
Why don't we go downstairs
and get a coffee, OK?
00:51:26.580 --> 00:51:28.580
Joanna?
00:51:30.550 --> 00:51:32.420
Aren't you supposed
to be in school?
00:51:32.450 --> 00:51:33.790
Who do you
think you are?
00:51:33.820 --> 00:51:36.290
It's my job here to
answer Jerry's mail.
00:51:36.320 --> 00:51:37.960
Oh, it's Jerry to you?
00:51:37.990 --> 00:51:39.530
Is he your sugar daddy?
00:51:39.560 --> 00:51:43.530
No, I... I've never
even met him. OK?
00:51:43.560 --> 00:51:46.670
Mr. Salinger does not
want to receive his mail.
00:51:46.700 --> 00:51:49.000
So instead you lecture me
like you're my mother.
00:51:50.070 --> 00:51:52.340
You're right. OK?
00:51:52.370 --> 00:51:53.870
I'm sorry.
00:51:53.910 --> 00:51:54.980
I apologize.
00:51:55.010 --> 00:51:57.440
Your letter was different.
00:51:57.480 --> 00:52:00.410
And I thought you deserved a
real response instead of our,
00:52:00.450 --> 00:52:03.050
"I'm sorry we cannot pass along
your kind note," bullshit.
00:52:03.080 --> 00:52:05.920
So I wrote you
something more personal.
00:52:07.050 --> 00:52:08.620
What makes you
think your advice
00:52:08.650 --> 00:52:10.360
is better than some
bullshit response?
00:52:13.460 --> 00:52:15.360
I'm going to summer school.
00:52:15.400 --> 00:52:18.430
So thanks a lot,
Miss Rakoff.
00:52:32.950 --> 00:52:35.780
You sent a personal letter
to one of the fans,
00:52:35.820 --> 00:52:37.650
and she came
storming in here?
00:52:39.990 --> 00:52:41.050
Oh my gosh!
00:52:42.090 --> 00:52:43.920
Oh my gosh!
00:52:46.030 --> 00:52:48.030
Do you have any idea
how many times,
00:52:48.060 --> 00:52:50.460
when I was answering
Salinger's letters,
00:52:50.500 --> 00:52:52.570
I wanted to write
my own one back?
00:52:52.600 --> 00:52:53.830
Really?
00:52:53.870 --> 00:52:55.500
Of course!
00:52:55.530 --> 00:52:57.710
"Dear sir, obsess
over another writer.
00:52:57.740 --> 00:53:00.770
I hear Kurt Vonnegut
answers his own fan mail!"
00:53:00.810 --> 00:53:04.650
Sometimes, you just
wanna go: "Hey, loser!"
00:53:04.680 --> 00:53:07.350
And... and then others...
00:53:08.420 --> 00:53:09.780
...they're so engaging.
00:53:09.820 --> 00:53:12.590
You just want to
champion them, you know?
00:53:12.620 --> 00:53:14.350
Yes, yes! Exactly!
00:53:14.390 --> 00:53:15.790
Yeah.
00:53:17.520 --> 00:53:19.390
But you've
crossed the line.
00:53:19.430 --> 00:53:23.500
It's a huge rabbit hole,
ethically and legally.
00:53:23.530 --> 00:53:25.670
I'm taking you off
Salinger's mail.
00:53:25.700 --> 00:53:26.830
- No, no.
- Yes.
00:53:26.870 --> 00:53:29.370
Hugh, please. I love
these letters so much.
00:53:29.400 --> 00:53:31.710
I promise you this won't
happen again. I promise.
00:53:32.870 --> 00:53:34.410
Judy?
00:53:36.040 --> 00:53:38.510
Ah, crap!
00:53:39.580 --> 00:53:40.550
It's all over.
00:53:40.580 --> 00:53:41.580
Judy?
00:53:41.610 --> 00:53:42.680
She's leaving us.
00:53:42.720 --> 00:53:43.880
For whom?
00:53:43.920 --> 00:53:45.650
Does it matter?
00:53:45.690 --> 00:53:47.620
If I were Judy,
I would have left too.
00:53:48.690 --> 00:53:50.090
Joanna...
00:53:50.120 --> 00:53:51.990
Why?
00:53:53.560 --> 00:53:55.860
Tell me, I'm curious.
Why would you leave?
00:53:55.900 --> 00:53:57.400
No, I'm really,
really sorry.
00:53:57.430 --> 00:53:58.770
I didn't mean that.
I just, um...
00:53:58.800 --> 00:54:03.570
I'm just sad to see
her leave, that's all.
00:54:03.600 --> 00:54:07.980
Well, until you can articulate
a reason that will enlighten us,
00:54:08.010 --> 00:54:10.810
you can go back to
typing your dictation.
00:54:10.840 --> 00:54:14.150
And fetch Daniel's
prescriptions when you're done.
00:54:16.450 --> 00:54:17.420
Close the door!
00:54:20.550 --> 00:54:23.890
For crying out loud!
I can't believe it!
00:54:23.920 --> 00:54:27.560
I still don't understand
what the hell she's thinking!
00:54:37.740 --> 00:54:40.540
OK, you think that
when a man falls in love,
00:54:40.570 --> 00:54:42.610
he doesn't look at
another woman, hmm?
00:54:42.640 --> 00:54:43.680
But I have news for you.
00:54:43.710 --> 00:54:46.180
Every man in this world
is looking at every woman
00:54:46.210 --> 00:54:47.920
and deciding weather
or not she's...
00:54:47.950 --> 00:54:48.920
He wants to fuck her?
00:54:50.020 --> 00:54:52.490
She's sexy. Right?
00:54:53.650 --> 00:54:56.020
Don, I think you
might be in a hole
00:54:56.060 --> 00:54:58.160
and you might
wanna stop digging.
00:54:58.190 --> 00:55:00.930
You think women don't
look at other men? We do.
00:55:00.960 --> 00:55:02.700
We even look at other women.
00:55:02.730 --> 00:55:04.900
We just don't drool
while we do it.
00:55:07.270 --> 00:55:10.900
Buba, Buba...
00:55:10.940 --> 00:55:13.570
I drool exclusively for you!
00:55:13.610 --> 00:55:15.680
Hmm?
00:55:15.710 --> 00:55:16.680
Hey!
00:55:16.710 --> 00:55:17.580
White wine?
00:55:17.610 --> 00:55:19.750
No thanks. I'm, uh...
I'm gonna go.
00:55:19.780 --> 00:55:21.510
Don't leave.
00:55:23.250 --> 00:55:24.690
Oh, I know.
00:55:24.720 --> 00:55:28.520
I, um, I actually
came to give you this.
00:55:28.550 --> 00:55:29.620
What's this?
00:55:29.660 --> 00:55:31.090
It's from Karl.
00:55:31.120 --> 00:55:33.890
He's coming to Washington
for a concert.
00:55:33.930 --> 00:55:35.630
He really wants you to go.
00:55:35.660 --> 00:55:38.030
You've been
in touch with Karl?
00:55:38.060 --> 00:55:40.840
He wrote you a letter,
but you never answered.
00:55:46.070 --> 00:55:47.880
Wednesday in DC.
00:55:47.910 --> 00:55:49.680
Yeah.
00:55:51.140 --> 00:55:53.010
What is it?
00:55:53.050 --> 00:55:55.950
Someone should go to
the meeting in Washington
00:55:55.980 --> 00:55:57.220
with Clifford Bradbury,
00:55:57.250 --> 00:55:59.790
make sure that
he's prepared
00:55:59.820 --> 00:56:01.890
and walk him through
the agency's protocol.
00:56:03.660 --> 00:56:05.690
He did sound
jittery on the phone.
00:56:06.790 --> 00:56:08.030
I can't leave New York.
00:56:08.060 --> 00:56:09.230
But I suppose I could send...
00:56:09.260 --> 00:56:10.960
Me!
00:56:11.000 --> 00:56:12.230
- You?
- Send me!
00:56:14.070 --> 00:56:15.700
Why?
00:56:16.840 --> 00:56:19.040
Take notes and
assist Clifford.
00:56:20.240 --> 00:56:22.680
Just let me do this
for the agency.
00:56:22.710 --> 00:56:23.980
Uh...
00:56:26.080 --> 00:56:28.580
You are to go to Washington,
00:56:28.610 --> 00:56:30.680
be the agency's
eyes and ears,
00:56:30.720 --> 00:56:32.690
find out who this
Clifford person is.
00:56:32.720 --> 00:56:34.720
You are to meet
with him beforehand
00:56:34.750 --> 00:56:36.090
and debrief
him afterwards,
00:56:36.120 --> 00:56:38.020
but you are not
to meet with Jerry.
00:56:38.060 --> 00:56:40.090
Jerry must think they
are meeting on their own.
00:56:40.130 --> 00:56:41.630
Understood?
00:56:41.660 --> 00:56:43.200
You will not regret this.
00:56:43.230 --> 00:56:44.730
We'll see
about that.
00:56:48.200 --> 00:56:50.300
Hey! Wait!
00:56:50.340 --> 00:56:53.840
I've got a...
got a gift for you.
00:56:53.870 --> 00:56:56.980
My birthday was 2 months ago.
00:56:57.010 --> 00:56:59.910
Oh, well, birthdays
are for Hallmark.
00:56:59.950 --> 00:57:01.210
It's, uh...
00:57:02.280 --> 00:57:03.720
It's my novel.
00:57:05.050 --> 00:57:06.590
You finished it?
00:57:07.720 --> 00:57:09.060
What, don't you
want to read it?
00:57:10.320 --> 00:57:12.890
Uh, of course I do! Yeah!
00:57:13.930 --> 00:57:15.090
Thanks!
00:57:16.800 --> 00:57:18.260
Congrats!
00:57:52.070 --> 00:57:53.930
Mr. Bradbury?
00:57:53.970 --> 00:57:55.270
Yes, Joanna!
00:57:55.300 --> 00:57:56.940
- Hi!
- Hi!
00:57:56.970 --> 00:57:58.710
- Nice to meet you.
- And you.
00:57:58.740 --> 00:58:00.670
I've widened the spine, see,
00:58:00.710 --> 00:58:03.410
to give the book some length
because it's too thin.
00:58:03.440 --> 00:58:05.380
I also re-typed it all
from The New Yorker.
00:58:05.410 --> 00:58:07.050
I didn't scan it.
00:58:07.080 --> 00:58:10.120
And good thing too, because
there were a few small typos.
00:58:10.150 --> 00:58:12.290
The New Yorker
doesn't make typos!
00:58:12.320 --> 00:58:15.820
Oh, yes! Small ones,
but typos still.
00:58:15.860 --> 00:58:18.060
Salinger is such a
stickler for details.
00:58:18.090 --> 00:58:19.430
I made two mock-ups.
00:58:19.460 --> 00:58:20.790
Wow!
00:58:20.830 --> 00:58:22.230
Do you think I
should have made more?
00:58:22.260 --> 00:58:23.230
No.
00:58:23.260 --> 00:58:25.930
Oh, I think I should
have made more, yeah.
00:58:25.960 --> 00:58:29.000
Mr. Bradbury,
it's gonna go very well.
00:58:29.030 --> 00:58:32.210
Just forget everything that
you've heard about Mr. Salinger.
00:58:32.240 --> 00:58:35.110
I think that you'll find that
he's very straightforward.
00:58:35.140 --> 00:58:37.880
It's important that
you just be yourself.
01:00:06.570 --> 01:00:08.300
What happened?
01:00:10.170 --> 01:00:12.170
Jerry Salinger
paid for my lunch!
01:00:12.210 --> 01:00:13.870
But how did it go?
01:00:14.970 --> 01:00:16.910
We agreed
on everything.
01:00:16.940 --> 01:00:18.340
That's great!
01:00:20.550 --> 01:00:22.280
I guess I just
missed him then, huh?
01:00:22.320 --> 01:00:23.480
Except the typos.
01:00:23.520 --> 01:00:24.990
What do you mean?
01:00:25.020 --> 01:00:27.120
He did not want me
to correct them.
01:00:27.150 --> 01:00:29.220
Yeah, he seemed peeved
that I fixed them.
01:00:29.260 --> 01:00:30.420
I thought,
at one point,
01:00:30.460 --> 01:00:32.360
he'd say: "Let's forget
the whole thing."
01:00:32.390 --> 01:00:34.160
Did he say why?
01:00:34.190 --> 01:00:37.060
He wants it printed exactly
as it ran in The New Yorker,
01:00:37.100 --> 01:00:39.430
as if the typos were
actually intentional.
01:00:39.460 --> 01:00:41.070
It makes no sense.
01:00:41.100 --> 01:00:42.840
Hey.
01:00:42.870 --> 01:00:45.040
Don't fix any more typos.
01:00:45.070 --> 01:00:46.810
Don't tell anybody
about the book.
01:00:46.840 --> 01:00:49.110
No interviews. That would
ruin the whole deal.
01:00:50.210 --> 01:00:51.980
Yeah, we don't
want to do that.
01:00:52.010 --> 01:00:53.550
Great work,
Mr. Bradbury!
01:00:53.580 --> 01:00:55.950
My boss is going to be
very pleased, OK?
01:00:55.980 --> 01:00:56.950
Bye!
01:01:46.370 --> 01:01:48.070
- Jo!
- Hi!
01:01:51.270 --> 01:01:53.240
You got my invitation.
01:01:54.570 --> 01:01:55.910
Yeah.
01:01:57.080 --> 01:01:59.950
Uh, I'm... I'm so
glad you're here.
01:01:59.980 --> 01:02:01.180
You look great!
01:02:01.210 --> 01:02:02.980
So do you!
01:02:10.120 --> 01:02:13.130
I'm glad you're here, Jo.
I've been wanting to apologize.
01:02:13.160 --> 01:02:14.330
What?
01:02:15.560 --> 01:02:18.000
I was angry when I
sent you the letter.
01:02:18.030 --> 01:02:19.530
I wrote stuff
I didn't mean.
01:02:19.570 --> 01:02:22.100
No, don't apologize.
You should be angry.
01:02:22.130 --> 01:02:25.100
I'm... I'm angry at you
for not being angry at me.
01:02:25.140 --> 01:02:28.210
I'm... I'm not angry,
and that's absurd, by the way.
01:02:31.480 --> 01:02:34.080
You hurt me, and I
needed to unleash.
01:02:34.110 --> 01:02:37.880
I deserved a proper
break-up, you know.
01:02:39.420 --> 01:02:41.420
You know, "Karl,
I'm leaving you,"
01:02:41.450 --> 01:02:43.390
you know,
the usual stuff.
01:02:43.420 --> 01:02:45.230
Yeah...
01:02:46.690 --> 01:02:49.430
- The usual stuff.
- Mm-hmm.
01:02:49.460 --> 01:02:51.930
The apartment felt
depressing when you left.
01:02:54.100 --> 01:02:57.100
I didn't read...
I didn't read your letter.
01:02:57.140 --> 01:02:59.470
Oh, wh-why?
01:02:59.510 --> 01:03:01.580
No, I, um...
01:03:03.140 --> 01:03:04.310
I couldn't
make it past Jo.
01:03:06.580 --> 01:03:08.950
Nobody else
calls me Jo, so...
01:03:11.720 --> 01:03:14.420
I want you back in my life.
01:03:16.090 --> 01:03:18.320
You know, even if it's
just a phone call
01:03:18.360 --> 01:03:19.560
every once in a while.
01:03:20.660 --> 01:03:23.500
You were my best friend.
01:03:25.000 --> 01:03:27.100
I miss you, Jo.
01:03:56.230 --> 01:03:58.230
I miss you too.
01:04:39.370 --> 01:04:43.210
I've learned that,
as phony as it may be,
01:04:43.240 --> 01:04:46.350
you can't go around revealing
your goddamn emotions
01:04:46.380 --> 01:04:47.610
to the world.
01:04:47.650 --> 01:04:50.180
Most people don't
give a flying hoot
01:04:50.220 --> 01:04:52.520
about, like,
what you think and feel
01:04:52.550 --> 01:04:54.220
most of the time, I guess.
01:04:55.460 --> 01:04:57.820
And if they see a weakness...
01:04:57.860 --> 01:05:02.460
I mean, why, for God's sake,
is showing emotion a weakness?
01:05:02.500 --> 01:05:05.230
Boy, do they jump
all over you, right?
01:05:06.500 --> 01:05:09.770
They seem to get right
in your goddamn face and...
01:05:11.100 --> 01:05:15.040
...revel in the fact that you
are actually feeling something.
01:05:19.550 --> 01:05:21.310
Is it good?
01:05:22.510 --> 01:05:23.550
What?
01:05:23.580 --> 01:05:25.390
The manuscript, is it good?
01:05:27.890 --> 01:05:29.350
It's interesting.
01:05:30.520 --> 01:05:32.360
But you hate it?
01:05:34.190 --> 01:05:35.760
I don't... I don't hate it.
01:05:37.630 --> 01:05:41.370
Or maybe I do hate it,
and that's why it's good.
01:05:43.270 --> 01:05:44.640
It's weirdly addictive.
01:05:44.670 --> 01:05:46.310
But...
01:05:46.340 --> 01:05:48.310
I don't want to read
about his sex life.
01:05:48.340 --> 01:05:50.740
No one wants to read
about his sex life.
01:05:53.250 --> 01:05:55.650
Maybe I'm just annoyed
by his nonchalance.
01:05:57.280 --> 01:05:58.820
Or because...
01:06:03.620 --> 01:06:05.730
He's writing and I'm not.
01:06:40.390 --> 01:06:41.600
I understand.
01:06:47.800 --> 01:06:49.230
What's going on?
01:06:49.270 --> 01:06:50.440
Shhh!
01:06:50.470 --> 01:06:53.410
Well, keep us posted
and thank you.
01:07:01.210 --> 01:07:02.580
Apparently, he shot himself.
01:07:04.250 --> 01:07:05.520
Wait, who...
who shot himself?
01:07:05.550 --> 01:07:07.690
Daniel, Joanna.
01:07:07.720 --> 01:07:09.460
Daniel committed suicide.
01:07:10.520 --> 01:07:12.390
The Daniel?
01:07:12.420 --> 01:07:16.900
In the living room, while
Margaret was in the bedroom.
01:07:16.930 --> 01:07:20.430
This can't be right!
Daniel is a beautiful man.
01:07:20.470 --> 01:07:25.270
He's sweet and he's kind and...
This can't be happening!
01:07:26.870 --> 01:07:28.440
But he looked fine!
01:07:28.470 --> 01:07:29.710
He was bipolar.
01:07:29.740 --> 01:07:31.940
Margaret took care of him
all these years.
01:07:31.980 --> 01:07:33.510
He was
her brother?
01:07:33.550 --> 01:07:34.680
Lover.
01:07:35.750 --> 01:07:36.720
Of 20 years.
01:07:38.450 --> 01:07:40.750
Wait, are we talking
about the same Daniel?
01:07:40.790 --> 01:07:43.590
Daniel was married to Helen,
whom you've met.
01:07:43.620 --> 01:07:46.290
He lived half
the week with Helen
01:07:46.320 --> 01:07:48.760
and the other
half with Margaret.
01:07:48.790 --> 01:07:51.660
They... shared his care.
01:07:51.700 --> 01:07:53.830
They shared him.
01:07:57.440 --> 01:08:00.670
Margaret shared a man
with another woman?
01:08:00.710 --> 01:08:02.980
Joanna, if anyone calls,
01:08:03.010 --> 01:08:05.580
tell them she's working
from home and take a message,
01:08:05.610 --> 01:08:08.680
and no mention of this.
01:08:08.710 --> 01:08:10.750
What about
if it's Jerry?
01:08:10.780 --> 01:08:12.590
Especially if it's Jerry.
01:08:40.810 --> 01:08:42.780
Can you please do that
some other time?
01:08:43.980 --> 01:08:45.520
Fine.
01:08:49.420 --> 01:08:50.760
Thanks.
01:09:14.680 --> 01:09:16.980
Margaret's office.
Joanna speaking.
01:09:17.020 --> 01:09:19.590
Hi, Joanna!
It's Jerry. How are you?
01:09:19.620 --> 01:09:21.590
Hi! I'm well.
How are you?
01:09:21.620 --> 01:09:22.960
How is the weather down there?
01:09:22.990 --> 01:09:24.390
Muggy.
01:09:24.420 --> 01:09:26.090
Is your boss around?
01:09:26.130 --> 01:09:28.330
No, I'm afraid she's out.
01:09:28.360 --> 01:09:30.000
She's been out a lot lately.
01:09:31.530 --> 01:09:35.730
Yeah, she's very busy,
lots of meetings.
01:09:35.770 --> 01:09:37.770
Is there anything
I can help you with?
01:09:37.800 --> 01:09:39.570
Let me ask you something.
01:09:39.600 --> 01:09:42.840
This, uh,
Clifford Bradbury fellow...
01:09:42.880 --> 01:09:44.380
Sure.
01:09:44.410 --> 01:09:45.680
What do you make of him?
01:09:45.710 --> 01:09:46.610
I like him.
01:09:46.650 --> 01:09:49.510
Sometimes, I think
he can overthink things,
01:09:49.550 --> 01:09:52.650
but he just doesn't
want to let you down.
01:09:52.680 --> 01:09:55.150
Have you been
writing every day?
01:09:55.150 --> 01:09:57.120
A lot of days.
01:09:57.160 --> 01:10:00.490
They've given me more
responsibility around here,
01:10:00.530 --> 01:10:02.890
so I've been
reading manuscripts!
01:10:02.930 --> 01:10:05.930
You're a writer, Joanna,
aren't you?
01:10:05.970 --> 01:10:09.700
Not an agent, not a secretary.
01:10:11.170 --> 01:10:12.710
I don't know.
01:10:12.740 --> 01:10:14.540
Sorry, I missed that.
01:10:14.570 --> 01:10:16.340
I'm a little deaf.
01:10:17.440 --> 01:10:19.610
Yes, um, yes!
01:10:21.010 --> 01:10:22.550
I'm a writer.
01:10:22.580 --> 01:10:24.580
So write!
01:10:24.620 --> 01:10:27.620
Even if it's just
15 minutes in the morning.
01:10:27.650 --> 01:10:30.060
Protect that sanctuary, OK?
01:10:30.090 --> 01:10:33.730
Don't get stuck answering
the phone, Joanna.
01:10:33.760 --> 01:10:35.400
You're a poet!
01:11:06.460 --> 01:11:08.190
- Hey!
- Hey, Mark!
01:11:20.170 --> 01:11:23.710
What is it like,
working for The New Yorker?
01:11:23.740 --> 01:11:26.580
Well, why don't you come
by the office one day?
01:11:26.610 --> 01:11:28.050
We'll show you around.
01:11:28.080 --> 01:11:30.650
I would like that very much!
01:11:30.680 --> 01:11:32.820
Do you
write yourself?
01:11:32.850 --> 01:11:34.490
Uh...
01:11:35.890 --> 01:11:38.620
It's OK! We won't
tell your boss!
01:11:38.660 --> 01:11:41.460
I... I've published two poems
in The Paris Review,
01:11:41.490 --> 01:11:43.630
and I'm working on
some new material.
01:11:43.660 --> 01:11:46.600
Uh, well, we'd be happy to
take look at your material
01:11:46.630 --> 01:11:47.870
when you feel it's ready.
01:11:48.970 --> 01:11:50.240
That would be great.
01:11:50.270 --> 01:11:51.900
That would be
really great, yeah.
01:11:51.940 --> 01:11:52.970
Let's cheers to that.
01:11:53.010 --> 01:11:54.640
OK!
01:11:54.670 --> 01:11:56.940
Well, the satirical
stuff, I like.
01:11:56.980 --> 01:11:59.550
I know, but The New Yorker's
fiction is a joke.
01:11:59.580 --> 01:12:01.650
And that soppy
"Talk of the Town" thing?
01:12:03.150 --> 01:12:04.150
Don...
01:12:04.180 --> 01:12:05.480
Oh, I'm sorry.
01:12:05.520 --> 01:12:07.190
I know you love
that shit, that...
01:12:07.220 --> 01:12:10.560
"Oh, let's all
go meet up at the Algonquin.
01:12:10.590 --> 01:12:13.160
I do so wish you could
join us," bullshit.
01:12:16.630 --> 01:12:17.930
So when's the wedding?
01:12:22.700 --> 01:12:26.710
It's, uh, it's Columbus Day
weekend, right?
01:12:26.740 --> 01:12:29.540
Or... or am I making...
am I making that up?
01:12:29.570 --> 01:12:31.840
It's next weekend, Don.
01:12:31.880 --> 01:12:33.510
Joanna, you're
coming, right?
01:12:33.550 --> 01:12:34.680
Yeah, yeah...
01:12:35.710 --> 01:12:36.850
Excited!
01:12:39.820 --> 01:12:42.560
You're an asshole.
You know that, right?
01:12:42.590 --> 01:12:44.060
Uh...
01:12:46.560 --> 01:12:48.190
I knew that if
I told you about it,
01:12:48.230 --> 01:12:49.230
you'd start planning,
01:12:49.260 --> 01:12:52.130
like: "Let's rent a car.
Let's stay in this B&B.
01:12:52.160 --> 01:12:53.430
What am I gonna wear?"
01:12:53.470 --> 01:12:56.300
And then you'd buy that dress
and you'd make all these plans,
01:12:56.340 --> 01:12:57.800
and then you flip out at me
01:12:57.840 --> 01:12:59.640
when I told you that
I wanted to go alone.
01:13:03.210 --> 01:13:06.180
You wanna go to your
best friend's wedding alone?
01:13:06.210 --> 01:13:07.280
OK, listen,
01:13:07.310 --> 01:13:09.750
I don't need to justify
myself to you, all right?
01:13:09.780 --> 01:13:10.780
Really?
01:13:10.820 --> 01:13:11.680
Really, Buba!
01:13:11.720 --> 01:13:13.790
All my bros from
Hartford will be there.
01:13:13.820 --> 01:13:15.150
It's gonna be
the end of an era.
01:13:15.150 --> 01:13:17.020
And I don't want to
have to worry
01:13:17.060 --> 01:13:19.290
about whether you're
having fun or not.
01:13:23.030 --> 01:13:24.800
Right!
01:13:24.830 --> 01:13:27.030
Maybe you'll meet
some hot blonde
01:13:27.070 --> 01:13:28.870
that wants you to
rip her panties off
01:13:28.900 --> 01:13:29.770
and fuck her up the ass
01:13:29.800 --> 01:13:31.800
and write an unreadable
story about her!
01:13:32.870 --> 01:13:34.010
What? Wow!
01:13:34.040 --> 01:13:35.610
Where is this coming from?
01:13:35.640 --> 01:13:37.810
Where is the sweet, naive
girl I met last Christmas?
01:13:37.840 --> 01:13:38.840
'Cause you know what?
01:13:38.880 --> 01:13:40.580
I'd like her back,
please, Buba.
01:13:40.610 --> 01:13:43.220
Stop calling me Buba, OK?
I'm not a child!
01:13:43.250 --> 01:13:46.250
I call you Buba
because I love you.
01:13:46.280 --> 01:13:48.820
It's what my grandmother
calls my mom.
01:13:50.860 --> 01:13:52.020
You love me?
01:13:52.060 --> 01:13:53.090
Of course!
01:13:54.260 --> 01:13:56.030
I mean, would I
be here if I didn't?
01:13:57.400 --> 01:14:00.330
I told you I've never lived with
a girl before. You changed me.
01:14:02.730 --> 01:14:04.140
You love me,
01:14:04.170 --> 01:14:06.370
but you don't want to me
to go to Mark's wedding?
01:14:06.400 --> 01:14:07.810
Correct.
01:14:15.250 --> 01:14:17.620
Look, I am
older than you.
01:14:17.650 --> 01:14:19.720
I try not to remind you
of this, but it is true.
01:14:19.750 --> 01:14:20.790
All right?
01:14:20.820 --> 01:14:22.190
And one day,
when you're my age,
01:14:22.220 --> 01:14:24.620
you'll realize that
two people can love each other
01:14:24.660 --> 01:14:25.820
and not agree
on everything
01:14:25.860 --> 01:14:28.360
and not have to
do everything together.
01:14:44.080 --> 01:14:46.080
You think I should
pack a tie?
01:14:49.720 --> 01:14:52.690
Buba? You're good
with this kind of thing.
01:14:52.720 --> 01:14:54.350
Like, I don't have a suit,
01:14:54.390 --> 01:14:58.320
so you think... you think
just a shirt and a tie?
01:15:00.760 --> 01:15:02.100
You're depressed.
01:15:03.760 --> 01:15:07.100
I swear, I mean,
I... I recognize the symptoms.
01:15:07.130 --> 01:15:09.370
I get like that
when I'm emotional.
01:15:09.400 --> 01:15:13.070
And, well, I can
get quite emotional.
01:15:14.170 --> 01:15:15.410
I'm not depressed.
01:15:15.440 --> 01:15:17.180
Hmm.
01:15:17.210 --> 01:15:19.440
I'm a very happy person.
01:15:19.480 --> 01:15:20.980
What?
01:15:22.110 --> 01:15:23.650
Nothing.
01:15:28.750 --> 01:15:30.820
Am I gonna get
a kiss goodbye?
01:15:39.130 --> 01:15:42.000
All right. Goodbye, Joanna!
01:16:13.300 --> 01:16:16.030
"I think about Holden a lot.
01:16:16.070 --> 01:16:20.010
"When I first think about him,
I get a stupid grin on my face,
01:16:20.040 --> 01:16:24.240
"you know, thinking about
what a funny guy he is and all.
01:16:24.280 --> 01:16:27.510
"But then I usually
get depressed as hell,
01:16:27.550 --> 01:16:29.820
"because I only
think about Holden
01:16:29.850 --> 01:16:31.750
"when I'm feeling
very emotional.
01:16:33.150 --> 01:16:35.860
I can get 'quiet' emotional."
01:16:41.430 --> 01:16:43.830
That's what I had become...
01:16:44.930 --> 01:16:46.830
quiet emotional.
01:16:58.010 --> 01:17:00.080
Dear boy from Winston-Salem...
01:17:01.910 --> 01:17:06.850
My most profound apologies
for taking so long to reply.
01:17:06.890 --> 01:17:09.360
I've been thinking about
your letters for months.
01:17:10.460 --> 01:17:11.560
I suppose that...
01:17:13.360 --> 01:17:17.800
I too can get quite emotional
about things sometimes.
01:17:20.230 --> 01:17:21.470
But you're right.
01:17:22.600 --> 01:17:25.340
You can't go around revealing
your goddamn emotions
01:17:25.370 --> 01:17:26.310
to the world.
01:17:27.940 --> 01:17:30.840
But if you can't reveal
your emotions to the world,
01:17:30.880 --> 01:17:32.810
then what are you
supposed to do with them?
01:17:32.850 --> 01:17:34.510
How do you go on?
01:17:36.220 --> 01:17:37.920
'Cause...
01:17:40.180 --> 01:17:42.420
I feel like
crying all the time.
01:18:32.440 --> 01:18:34.640
Joanna? What is it?
01:18:34.670 --> 01:18:36.540
Has something happened
at the agency?
01:18:36.570 --> 01:18:38.510
No, no, no!
Everything's fine.
01:18:39.910 --> 01:18:43.450
I brought you these
and some soup from Mangia.
01:18:43.480 --> 01:18:45.280
I know you like
their mushroom barley.
01:18:46.420 --> 01:18:48.090
That's very thoughtful.
01:18:49.250 --> 01:18:50.620
You do pay attention, don't you?
01:19:05.040 --> 01:19:08.170
You did a fine job
on those contracts.
01:19:09.270 --> 01:19:11.910
Those electronic clauses,
01:19:11.940 --> 01:19:14.610
they'll be the
death of publishing.
01:19:17.180 --> 01:19:20.120
On the other hand,
engaging with Jerry's fans
01:19:20.150 --> 01:19:22.590
was irresponsible,
immature and dangerous.
01:19:22.620 --> 01:19:24.320
You know about that?
01:19:24.360 --> 01:19:26.320
I have fired
assistants for less.
01:19:27.690 --> 01:19:29.660
Why didn't you fire me?
01:19:29.690 --> 01:19:31.630
Because it's
highly unlikely
01:19:31.660 --> 01:19:34.130
you will make
the same mistake twice.
01:19:34.170 --> 01:19:36.100
Also, Jerry likes you.
01:19:36.130 --> 01:19:38.700
I am reluctant
to alter his routine.
01:19:38.740 --> 01:19:40.670
I don't want to
be a routine.
01:19:45.980 --> 01:19:47.310
I, uh...
01:19:48.450 --> 01:19:50.580
I have a couple of stories...
01:19:51.680 --> 01:19:54.450
from long-term clients.
01:19:54.490 --> 01:19:57.190
Read them,
01:19:57.220 --> 01:20:00.490
and, uh, figure out which
magazines they'd be right for
01:20:00.520 --> 01:20:02.430
and send them out.
01:20:08.170 --> 01:20:09.700
What if I don't like them?
01:20:09.730 --> 01:20:11.600
Then it's your job
to figure out who will.
01:20:11.640 --> 01:20:13.270
Right.
01:20:14.510 --> 01:20:16.040
Thank you.
01:20:18.210 --> 01:20:20.380
Better get back
to the office.
01:20:20.410 --> 01:20:22.620
Why do you think
Judy Blume left?
01:20:23.720 --> 01:20:26.050
I'm sorry that
I said that.
01:20:26.080 --> 01:20:30.320
No, please, I would like
to know what you think.
01:20:41.230 --> 01:20:46.170
When you met with Judy,
did you discuss her writing?
01:20:46.200 --> 01:20:49.980
The quality of her writing
was never an issue.
01:20:51.510 --> 01:20:54.980
Maybe she wasn't looking
for the perfect sales pitch.
01:20:56.310 --> 01:20:58.180
Maybe she just wanted...
01:20:59.580 --> 01:21:02.290
to hear what you
thought about the story,
01:21:02.320 --> 01:21:04.260
what it meant to you.
01:21:06.120 --> 01:21:09.060
Or if you love books the
same way that she loves them.
01:21:10.430 --> 01:21:13.700
I'm not sure my love of books
was relevant to that discussion.
01:21:13.730 --> 01:21:16.440
Maybe it was
relevant to her.
01:21:19.670 --> 01:21:21.610
I know it would be to me.
01:21:23.140 --> 01:21:24.510
Oh...
01:21:27.510 --> 01:21:31.580
You know, I sold my first book
when I was in my 20s.
01:21:31.620 --> 01:21:34.550
It was about this
young woman journalist
01:21:34.590 --> 01:21:36.460
in the Spanish Civil War,
01:21:36.490 --> 01:21:38.660
and it was actually
written by a man.
01:21:39.860 --> 01:21:43.700
And yet he seemed to
understand intimately
01:21:43.730 --> 01:21:46.130
what it would be like
for her as a woman.
01:21:46.160 --> 01:21:50.070
Anyway, I sold the book.
01:21:50.100 --> 01:21:54.440
And then my boss said that I
should represent the author.
01:21:54.470 --> 01:21:56.740
And naturally,
I said yes.
01:21:56.770 --> 01:22:00.750
And then, like, right away,
I started to get nervous,
01:22:00.780 --> 01:22:02.780
almost panicky.
01:22:02.810 --> 01:22:04.220
And what if...
01:22:05.480 --> 01:22:08.550
what if the author
disappointed me as a person?
01:22:08.590 --> 01:22:11.420
And what if I liked
the writing, but not him?
01:22:13.560 --> 01:22:15.860
And it was about
3 weeks later,
01:22:15.890 --> 01:22:18.560
we met for lunch
at Elaine's.
01:22:18.600 --> 01:22:22.270
And at 9:00 p.m.,
we were still there.
01:22:23.470 --> 01:22:27.740
Yeah, just laughing
and talking and, yeah,
01:22:27.770 --> 01:22:32.210
sharing our aspirations
and our... our love of music...
01:22:33.310 --> 01:22:35.680
our love of books.
01:22:38.420 --> 01:22:39.690
Daniel?
01:22:41.790 --> 01:22:45.460
Yeah, Daniel.
01:22:54.370 --> 01:22:56.870
My condolences, Margaret.
01:22:56.900 --> 01:22:59.470
I'll pull my socks up.
01:23:03.640 --> 01:23:05.480
Oh!
01:23:44.680 --> 01:23:47.790
For months, I had been
touched by anonymous fans,
01:23:47.820 --> 01:23:51.620
touched by their desire
to connect with Salinger.
01:23:53.760 --> 01:23:56.390
Their letters had changed me.
01:23:59.000 --> 01:24:02.770
The time had come to see
for myself what had moved them.
01:24:18.780 --> 01:24:23.590
Salinger's nothing
like I thought. Nothing.
01:24:24.860 --> 01:24:29.730
He's brutal, brutal and funny,
and I love it.
01:24:29.760 --> 01:24:32.830
I love Franny the most.
01:24:32.860 --> 01:24:35.570
There's that moment
when the guy in Princeton
01:24:35.600 --> 01:24:37.670
is waiting for Franny
at the train station,
01:24:37.700 --> 01:24:41.270
and he has the letter
in his pocket, Franny's letter.
01:24:41.310 --> 01:24:43.740
And he's read it
a thousand times.
01:24:43.770 --> 01:24:45.780
He knows it by heart,
01:24:45.810 --> 01:24:48.880
but when she gets
off the train and asks,
01:24:48.910 --> 01:24:50.550
"Did you get my letter,"
01:24:50.580 --> 01:24:51.980
he says...
01:24:52.020 --> 01:24:53.520
Which letter?
01:26:51.140 --> 01:26:53.370
Hey, Buba!
01:26:54.940 --> 01:26:56.610
I thought you'd be at work.
01:26:57.740 --> 01:27:00.150
I took the morning off.
01:27:00.180 --> 01:27:03.080
You know,
I missed you, Buba.
01:27:03.110 --> 01:27:04.750
Hmm?
01:27:15.060 --> 01:27:17.000
Are you going somewhere?
01:27:18.730 --> 01:27:20.700
I'm leaving you, Don.
01:27:24.870 --> 01:27:26.070
Y...
01:27:26.100 --> 01:27:27.840
I get it! This is
about the wedding!
01:27:27.870 --> 01:27:29.610
Something hit me
while you were gone.
01:27:29.640 --> 01:27:31.610
Why are you making
a thing out of this?
01:27:31.640 --> 01:27:33.810
Listen to me, something
hit me while you were gone!
01:27:33.850 --> 01:27:35.550
What, that you
never really engaged?
01:27:35.580 --> 01:27:37.020
- I didn't miss you.
- What?
01:27:37.050 --> 01:27:39.420
I didn't think about you,
not for one second.
01:27:40.850 --> 01:27:43.190
OK, so you needed some time
on your own. I get that.
01:27:43.220 --> 01:27:45.060
You can keep
the apartment, all right?
01:27:45.090 --> 01:27:46.460
You need it
more than I do.
01:27:46.490 --> 01:27:47.690
So you're gonna give me
01:27:47.720 --> 01:27:49.790
the, "Sorry, it's not you,
it's me," bullshit?
01:27:49.830 --> 01:27:52.000
I should have broke up
with you before.
01:27:52.030 --> 01:27:53.930
I'm not in love with you.
01:27:53.970 --> 01:27:55.130
I'm sorry.
01:28:27.230 --> 01:28:28.200
Thanks.
01:29:45.910 --> 01:29:47.610
I knew you could do it!
01:29:48.710 --> 01:29:50.720
I knew it! Come with me!
01:29:50.750 --> 01:29:54.220
Hugh! Stop doing
what you're doing!
01:29:54.250 --> 01:29:56.650
Max, we're coming
into your sanctum!
01:29:56.690 --> 01:29:58.220
I have an announcement to make!
01:29:58.260 --> 01:29:59.290
What is it?
01:29:59.320 --> 01:30:02.760
Joanna has sold a story
I gave her this summer.
01:30:02.790 --> 01:30:06.000
- Congratulations!
- Oh! Not surprised! Good job!
01:30:06.030 --> 01:30:08.200
- You're on your way.
- Of course she is!
01:30:08.230 --> 01:30:10.670
I knew the moment you
walked through the door
01:30:10.700 --> 01:30:12.740
that you were
agency material.
01:30:12.770 --> 01:30:15.970
Now you can start to build
your very own client list,
01:30:16.010 --> 01:30:18.140
a most exciting
feeling for an agent.
01:30:18.180 --> 01:30:19.680
Isn't that right, Max?
01:30:19.710 --> 01:30:21.910
For once, I have to
agree with Margaret, yes.
01:30:21.950 --> 01:30:23.880
We will celebrate at lunch.
01:30:23.920 --> 01:30:25.620
Hope you
like martinis!
01:30:25.650 --> 01:30:27.920
- Oh, she'll learn to like them.
- There you go!
01:31:06.690 --> 01:31:08.790
You know, we have
some authors
01:31:08.830 --> 01:31:11.360
who would prefer to
be with you, I think,
01:31:11.400 --> 01:31:13.360
than an old fogey like me.
01:31:14.730 --> 01:31:16.670
Some people I
think you'll like.
01:31:18.900 --> 01:31:20.140
What is it?
01:31:21.310 --> 01:31:25.210
I'm so grateful.
I'm so, so grateful.
01:31:30.420 --> 01:31:31.880
You're leaving.
01:31:33.080 --> 01:31:35.790
I was planning on talking
to you some time this week.
01:31:35.820 --> 01:31:37.790
But you're doing so well!
01:31:37.820 --> 01:31:42.660
I mean, you have it in you to
become a really fine agent.
01:31:42.690 --> 01:31:45.960
You have good instincts,
a good heart.
01:31:46.000 --> 01:31:47.730
Thank you.
01:31:49.030 --> 01:31:50.700
Thank you, Margaret.
01:31:52.370 --> 01:31:54.140
My mind's made up.
01:31:55.470 --> 01:31:59.010
Of course, I'll stay until
you can find a replacement.
01:32:01.710 --> 01:32:03.920
You have other aspirations.
01:32:04.980 --> 01:32:07.050
I do.
01:32:08.290 --> 01:32:11.260
We just never really
talked about anything
01:32:11.290 --> 01:32:14.190
other than the
agency's business.
01:32:15.760 --> 01:32:17.260
That's very true.
01:32:23.470 --> 01:32:25.440
But I like working with you.
01:32:25.470 --> 01:32:28.810
I like working here.
I really, really do.
01:32:30.140 --> 01:32:34.410
There's just other things
I wanna do, and...
01:32:36.050 --> 01:32:38.920
I'm afraid that if I don't
do them now, I never will.
01:32:43.790 --> 01:32:45.290
I understand.
01:33:50.250 --> 01:33:55.190
Hi! Kevin told me to
drop this by at my convenience.
01:33:55.230 --> 01:33:58.800
Would you like to give it to
him yourself? I think he's in.
01:33:58.830 --> 01:34:01.200
That would be lovely. Thanks.
01:34:11.580 --> 01:34:13.510
You like Japanese?
Oh, hey there!
01:34:13.540 --> 01:34:16.110
Oh, um, guess
who's visiting?
01:34:22.420 --> 01:34:24.860
I want to
give us enough time.
01:34:24.890 --> 01:34:26.290
I wonder about the cover.
01:34:26.320 --> 01:34:28.030
The cover.
01:34:28.060 --> 01:34:29.960
Yes. What do you make of it?
01:34:29.990 --> 01:34:30.930
I don't think...
01:34:41.440 --> 01:34:42.970
Hello?
01:34:43.010 --> 01:34:44.380
Listen, I'm thinking.
01:34:44.410 --> 01:34:46.440
If I was the guy
who put myself on a paper
01:34:46.480 --> 01:34:48.350
and it came out as
Catcher in the Rye,
01:34:48.380 --> 01:34:51.020
I'd get a bang out of the
bastard writing me a letter
01:34:51.050 --> 01:34:52.880
pretending to be
able to do the same.
01:34:52.920 --> 01:34:54.120
You follow me?
01:35:39.360 --> 01:35:41.430
...chestnut stuffing.
01:35:41.470 --> 01:35:43.640
Oh, Jerry?
01:35:43.670 --> 01:35:46.340
- May I introduce you to...
- Joanna!
01:35:46.370 --> 01:35:48.470
So good to finally meet you.
01:35:52.710 --> 01:36:15.710
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