Salter, James

(US, 1926– )

Salter was born and raised in New York. As a young man he trained at West Point Military Academy then went on to become a fighter pilot. His first two novels, The Hunters (1956) and Arms of Flesh (1961), both deal with his experiences as a fighter pilot flying combat missions during the Korean War. Perhaps Salter's most renowned work, however, is A Sport and a Pastime (1967). The novel, which has been described as an ‘erotic tour de force’, features an American, Philip Dean—a Yale drop-out—and his stay in France where he seduces or ‘educates’ a local waitress, Anne-Marie Costallat. The story is told by a third character, a young student, who is in France for ‘the season’ and shares a house with Dean. This highly charged erotic novel traces the relationships in vibrant detail.

Anais Nin, Henry Miller  CJ