Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes
- Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes
- J.D. Salinger
- New Yorker Magazine, New York, July 14, 1951
Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes is perhaps one of Salinger’s most ironic short stories. A man calls his older friend late at night, frantically worrying about the whereabouts of his young and pretty wife. The older man talks his friend down off the ledge, never letting on that all the while the worried man’s young wife is lying there in bed beside him.
This New Yorker magazine is the true first edition of this story, which would later be published in Salinger’s wildly successful collection Nine Stories.
Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes was published in 1951, and takes place in the 1940′s. It would have been seen as quite risque in its day.
This copy is in very good condition, with the typical mailing fold down the front cover and light wear to the bottom edge of the front cover and along the spine. Some other condition issues to watch out for with these old magazines are loose and missing pages, browning and chipping of the pages, especially at the edges of the text block, and moisture damage. Address labels don’t affect the value too much, but damage caused by the removal of these labels does.
If you plan to buy a copy on-line it is best to ask lots of questions. Also, ask for clear photos.
For some reason, this is one of the easier, and therefore, least expensive of the Salinger New Yorkers to find. There are a few copies available today on-line, all but one for about $200 – give or take. One copy, however, is only $25. Why?
Because a cartoon has been cut out, taking some of the text from the story with it.
Many people collect these older magazines for their advertisements. Check out this cool DeSoto ad. Less than nine years after this magazine came out, DeSoto went out of business.
Since Salinger’s death in 2010, these magazines have slowly been creeping up in value. Even a few years ago, you could find this edition in very good or better condition for less than $100.
