Joyce Maynard on J.D. Salinger, Survival, and Writing Through ADHD

Joyce Maynard has been writing for 53 years. At 18, she landed on the cover of the New York Times Magazine, caught the eye of J.D. Salinger, and disappeared into a relationship that would define her for decades—until she finally told her story and was called a "predator" by Maureen Dowd. In this conversation, Joyce talks about being canceled before canceling was a thing, surviving as a Me Too survivor before Me Too became a movement, and why she returned to Yale at 65 only to discover she reads in the 17th percentile.

TIMELINE:

00:35 Being canceled before it was a thing

01:47 The New York Times Magazine cover story at 18

03:29 JD Salinger's letter and the beginning of their relationship

04:30 Moving in with Salinger and giving up Yale

05:39 Keeping the secret for 25 years

06:22 Writing "At Home in the World" and the backlash

08:26 When 18-year-olds dating 53-year-olds was "romantic"

09:41 The Charlie Rose interview (and what happened after)

10:27 Why the culture turned against her in 1998

11:23 Can you separate the artist from the art?

13:25 Teaching memoir to women in Guatemala

15:45 Writing family sagas and "How the Light Gets In"

16:31 Growing up in a problematic family

17:00 Mother's writing bootcamp from age 3

22:23 Including real-world events (Trump, January 6th) in fiction

24:09 Writing is not therapy or catharsis

29:43 Throwing away manuscripts that aren't good enough

30:08 Discovering ADHD at Yale at age 65

32:08 The D-minus French exam that changed everything

34:22 Reading in the 17th percentile

36:39 The gift of ADHD

40:39 "You cannot be a writer if you're not a reader" - and why that's wrong

41:48 Character-first vs. plot-first writing

43:33 Never knowing where the story will end (vs. John Irving)

44:18 No outlines - "outline is for a term paper"

46:22 Finding inspiration in news headlines

47:49 Why some stories are memoir and others are fiction

50:48 On sensitivity readers and the transgender character

51:44 When characters display "politically incorrect" attitudes

52:57 Fear of cancellation from the left

53:29 Trigger warnings at Yale and the softening of everything