James Salter (1925–2015,) byname of James Arnold Horowitz, was an American novelist, short-story writer, and screenwriter. He wrote just five novels and a compilation of stories. However, his work is distinguished by the meticulous, economical use of language. His themes often involve the passage of time and the losses experienced along the way.
Born in New York City, Salter attended West Point and became a pilot in the Air Force. He operated 100 combat missions during the Korean War and worked as a squadron leader in Europe before leaving in 1957 to become a writer. His first two novels, The Hunters (1957) and The Arm of Flesh (1960,) were based on his battle pilot experiences.
Following the successful publication of The Hunters, he resigned from the military in 1957. He then wrote A Sport and a Pastime (1967,) a novel about the love affair between a Yale dropout residing in Paris and a working-class French lady.
After a short career in film writing and directing, Salter published Light Years (1975) and Solo Faces (1979.) His early books were reissued in the mid-1980s and enjoyed renewed attention. His later output remained sparse, and his success more critical than commercial.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by James Salter
There is no complete life. There are only fragments. We are born to have nothing, to have it pour through our hands.
—James Salter
Certain things I remember exactly as they were. They are merely discolored a bit by time, like coins in the pocket of a forgotten suit. Most of the details, though, have long since been transformed or rearranged to bring others of them forward. Some, in fact, are obviously counterfeit; they are no less important. One alters the past to form the future.
—James Salter
Sometimes you are aware when your great moments are happening, and sometimes they rise from the past. Perhaps it’s the same with people.
—James Salter
But knowledge does not protect one. Life is contemptuous of knowledge; it forces it to sit in the anterooms, to wait outside. Passion, energy, lies: these are what life admires. Still, anything can be endured if all humanity is watching. The martyrs prove it. We live in the attention of others. We turn to it as flowers to the sun.
—James Salter
Wondering Whom to Read Next?
Norman Mailer American Novelist, Journalist
Cynthia Ozick American Novelist, Essayist
Raymond Chandler American Novelist
Lloyd Alexander American Writer
George Steiner American Culture Critic
Jonathan Lethem American Novelist, Essayist
Paul Auster American Novelist, Poet
John Irving American Novelist
Don DeLillo American Author
Ernest J. Gaines American Novelist, Short-Story Writer