Both Parties Concerned

"Both Parties Concerned"
Short story by J. D. Salinger
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Publication
Published inThe Saturday Evening Post
Publication date26 February, 1944

“Both Parties Concerned” is an uncollected work of short fiction by J. D. Salinger which appeared in the 26 February, 1944 issue of The Saturday Evening Post.[1][2]

The original title of the story as submitted by Salinger was “Wake Me When It Thunders” to emphasize the story’s climax.[3] The distinctive first-person narrative voice that identifies Salinger’s protagonist Holden Caulfield in his 1951 novel Catcher in the Rye first emerged in “Both Parties Concerned” with the character Billy Vullmer. [4]

  1. ^ Wenke, 1991 p. 167: Selected Bibliography
  2. ^ Purcell, W. F. (1996). "Narrative Voice in J. D. Salinger's "Both Parties Concerned" and "I'm Crazy"". Studies in Short Fiction. 33 (2): 278–280.
  3. ^ Slawenski, 2010 p. 82: Salinger “shocked” to discover The Saturday Evening Post had changed the story’s title from “Wake Me When It Thunders” to “Both Parties Concerned.” And p. 65: On climax of story and significance.
  4. ^ Wenke, 1991 p. 6: “The first manifestation of Holden’s voice (italics for voice) appears through Billy’s first-person narrative in “Both Parties Concerned.”