Joyce Maynard on J.D. Salinger, Her New Novel, and Writing with ADHD

Fifty years ago, The New York Times Magazine featured Joyce Maynard on its cover for an essay she wrote entitled “An 18-Year-Old Looks Back on Life.”

That story would catapult her to national prominence but also mark a traumatic beginning to a celebrated career as a prolific novelist and memoir writer. Unwittingly, Maynard became part of a MeToo scandal with iconic novelist J.D. Salinger long before male predatory behavior was in the news.

She survived that affair to become an acclaimed, prolific author—penning 13 novels and five works of nonfiction, two of which were adapted for film. On the pod, she talks about her newest masterpiece, How the Light Gets In, getting canceled in the 90s, returning to Yale as a middle-aged mom to get a degree, the challenges of reading and writing with ADHD, and the best writing advice she ever received. 

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