Send us Fan Mail

In this episode, which originally aired in radio format on April 14th, 2022, I explore some of the religious and spiritual concepts that J.D. Salinger dramatizes in his 1961 book, Franny and Zooey, which centers on another book called The Way of a Pilgrim, written in the 1800s by an anonymous Russian peasant who's obsessed with the Jesus Prayer and how to repeat it incessantly. The Franny character in Salinger's book develops her own obsession and winds up having an existential break-down. Through a tour-de-force of mansplaining about religion and "true ego," her brother Zooey helps Franny snap out of it and see that "everybody is Seymour's Fat Lady."