{"id":59143,"date":"2013-09-10T12:58:13","date_gmt":"2013-09-10T16:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=59143"},"modified":"2013-09-10T14:24:03","modified_gmt":"2013-09-10T18:24:03","slug":"drinking-with-salinger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2013\/09\/10\/drinking-with-salinger\/","title":{"rendered":"Drinking with Salinger"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"salingerposter\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On Sunday, I saw Salinger<\/em>. Having seen the trailer, not to mention the posters, my companions and I had reason to expect a certain degree of bombast. As such, we came armed with skepticism and whiskey, hoping to hear some interesting interviews, see some neat archival footage, and learn a little something in the bargain. What we learned is that you cannot go into this movie without a highly organized game plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I will not attempt a review of Salinger<\/em>; plenty of people much smarter and better qualified than I have done so already. What I can do, by way of a public service, is extend the following warnings to anyone who would attempt to play a drinking game while watching Salinger<\/em>, because it is a road fraught with peril.<\/p>\n

We entered into the experience with a level of naivete that, today, seems laughable. We had only one half-formed rule: whenever anyone on screen says \u201crecluse,\u201d everyone takes a drink. Alas! Within fifteen minutes we had depleted the miniature bottle of whiskey I had recently been given in a gift bag. The documentary clocks in at 129 minutes. On the other hand, sufficient supplies would have left us supine and slack-jawed. In order to help other moviegoers, my companions and I quickly compiled a list of warnings.<\/p>\n

If one wishes to play a drinking game while watching Salinger<\/em>, and wishes to avoid illness, potential alcohol poisoning, or complete inebriation, under NO CIRCUMSTANCES do the following:<\/span><\/p>\n