A Perfect Day For Bananafish

A Perfect Day For Bananafish

"A Perfect Day for Bananafish" is a short story by J. D. Salinger, originally published in the January 31, 1948 issue of The New Yorker. It was anthologized in 1949's 55 Short Stories from The New Yorker, as well as in Salinger's 1953 collection, Nine Stories. The story is an enigmatic examination of a young married couple, Muriel and Seymour Glass, while on vacation in Florida. It is the first of his stories to feature a member of the fictional Glass family.

When twenty-eight-year-old Salinger submitted the manuscript to The New Yorker in January 1947, titled “The Bananafish,” its arresting dialog and precise style was read with interest by fiction editor William Maxwell and his staff, though the point of the story, in this original version, was deemed incomprehensible.

At Maxwell’s urging, Salinger embarked upon a major reworking of the piece, adding the opening section with Muriel’s character, and crafting the material to provide insights into Seymour’s tragic demise. Salinger, in frequent consultation with editor Gus Lobrano, revised the story numerous times throughout 1947, renaming it “A Fine Day for Bananafish”. The New Yorker published the final version as “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” one year after Salinger had first submitted the manuscript.

The effort was met with immediate acclaim, and according to Salinger biographer Paul Alexander, it was "the story that would permanently change his standing in the literary community.” Salinger’s decision to collaborate with Maxwell and The New Yorker staff in developing the story marked a major advance in his career and led to his entry into that echelon of elite writers at the journal.