Nine Stories: "De Daumier-Smith’s Blue Period" by J.D. Salinger

by J.D. Salinger
In this story, John Smith recalls a time when he conned his way into working as an instructor at a correspondence art school. There, he became fascinated by the work of Sister Irma, a nun.

Here are links to our lists for other short stories in Nine Stories: A Perfect Day for Bananafish,
Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut, Just Before the War with the Eskimos, The Laughing Man, Down at the Dinghy, For Esmé–with Love and Squalor, Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes, De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period, Teddy

Here is a link to our lists for J.D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. ribald
    humorously vulgar
    If it made any real sense—and it doesn’t even begin to—I think I might be inclined to dedicate this account, for whatever it’s worth, especially if it’s the least bit ribald in parts, to the memory of my late, ribald stepfather, Robert Agadganian, Jr. Bobby—as everyone, even I, called him—died in 1947, surely with a few regrets, but without a single gripe, of thrombosis.
  2. begrudge
    allow unwillingly or reluctantly
    (After having spent so many years laboriously begrudging him those picaresque adjectives, I feel it’s a matter of life and death to get them in here.)
  3. picaresque
    (of fiction) involving clever rogues or adventurers
    (After having spent so many years laboriously begrudging him those picaresque adjectives, I feel it’s a matter of life and death to get them in here.)
  4. incapacitated
    lacking in or deprived of strength or power
    In any case, practically overnight, Bobby turned himself from a dead stockbroker and incapacitated bon vivant into a live, if somewhat unqualified, agent-appraiser for a society of independent American art galleries and fine arts museums.
  5. curt
    brief and to the point
    For a number of blocks the driver had repeatedly given those of us bunched up near the front door a curt order to “step to the rear of the vehicle.”
  6. prudent
    marked by sound judgment
    He addressed me in a lowered, an almost prudent tone of voice.
  7. elated
    full of high-spirited delight
    Then, rather elated, I stepped to the rear of the vehicle.
  8. dispensation
    an exemption from some rule or obligation
    I think I might have been willing to join the game if I had been granted a special dispensation from the Church of Manhattan guaranteeing that all the other players would remain respectfully standing till I was seated.
  9. capricious
    changeable
    Sometimes, however, possibly when my Muse was being capricious, I set aside my paints and drew cartoons.
  10. cavernous
    being or suggesting a large dark enclosed space
    It shows a cavernous view of the mouth of a man being attended by his dentist.
  11. vivacious
    vigorous and animated
    We began to exchange vivacious smiles when we bumped into each other on the threshold of the bathroom.
  12. stipulate
    make an express demand or provision in an agreement
    Candidate instructors, it stipulated, were to have a fluent knowledge of both the French and English languages, and only those of temperate habits and unquestionable character need apply.
  13. temperate
    not extreme in behavior
    Candidate instructors, it stipulated, were to have a fluent knowledge of both the French and English languages, and only those of temperate habits and unquestionable character need apply.
  14. formidable
    extremely impressive in strength or excellence
    However, a number of my oil paintings and water colors were now hanging in some of the finest, and by no means nouveau riche, homes in Paris, where they had gagné considerable attention from some of the most formidable critics of our day.
  15. pseudonym
    a fake name used to engage in some activity
    It took me almost as long to select a pseudonym as it had taken me to write the whole letter.
  16. ruddy
    inclined to a healthy reddish color
    I drew ruddy, billboard-genic children, beside themselves with delight and good health, holding up their empty bowls of breakfast food and pleading, good-naturedly, for more.
  17. disaffected
    discontented as toward authority
    I drew housewives who, until they reached for the right soap flakes, laid themselves wide open to straggly hair, poor posture, unruly children, disaffected husbands, rough (but slender) hands, untidy (but enormous) kitchens.
  18. laconic
    brief and to the point
    I was hostile and laconic throughout dinner.
  19. terse
    brief and to the point
    At length, while we were having coffee, I tersely outlined my new plans for the summer.
  20. unimpeachable
    beyond doubt or reproach
    I answered them coolly, overly briefly, the unimpeachable crown prince of the situation.
  21. wanton
    indulgent in immoral or improper behavior
    “Oh, it sounds very exciting!” said Bobby’s guest, and waited, wantonly, for me to slip her my Montreal address under the table.
  22. berth
    a bed on a ship or train; usually in tiers
    But I thought I could tell from his manner that he was already mentally exchanging his train reservations for Rhode Island from a compartment to a lower berth.
  23. depravity
    moral perversion; impairment of virtue and moral principles
    Her eyes sparkled with depravity.
  24. tenement
    a run-down apartment house barely meeting minimal standards
    In 1939, Les Amis Des Vieux Maitres occupied the second floor of a small, highly unendowed-looking, three-story building—a tenement building, really—in the Verdun, or least attractive, section of Montreal.
  25. en masse
    all together
    Late that night, when I lay awake in bed, with Mme. Yoshoto's Japanese-Malayan dinner still en masse and riding my sternum like an elevator, one or the other of the Yoshotos began to moan in his or her sleep, just the other side of my wall.
  26. sternum
    the breastbone
    Late that night, when I lay awake in bed, with Mme. Yoshoto's Japanese-Malayan dinner still en masse and riding my sternum like an elevator, one or the other of the Yoshotos began to moan in his or her sleep, just the other side of my wall.
  27. supine
    lying face upward
    When it became quite unendurable to listen to from a supine position, I got out of bed, put on my slippers, and went over in the dark and sat down on one of the floor cushions.
  28. coagulate
    change from a liquid to a thickened or solid state
    Presently, some sort of fish was served to me on a plate with a small but noticeable trace of coagulated catsup along the border.
  29. sheaf
    a package of several things tied together
    Around nine, M. Yoshoto took off his glasses, got up and padded over to my desk with a sheaf of papers in his hand.
  30. whit
    a tiny or scarcely detectable amount
    Like many a really good artist, M. Yoshoto taught drawing not a whit better than it’s taught by a so-so artist who has a nice flair for teaching.
  31. waylay
    wait in hiding to attack
    For me, there was no real element of surprise in this ruthless truth, and so it didn’t waylay me.
  32. emulate
    strive to equal or match, especially by imitating
    She said she only hoped that she could someday emulate them.
  33. arresting
    commanding attention
    Her sample drawings were clipped, rather subordinately, to her photograph. All of them were arresting.
  34. foreground
    the part of a scene that is near the viewer
    The tallest boy, in the foreground of the picture, appeared to have rickets in one leg and elephantiasis in the other—an effect, it was clear, that Miss Kramer had deliberately used to show that the boy was standing with his feet slightly apart.
  35. credo
    any system of principles or beliefs
    To support this credo, he submitted a goodly number of original drawings and oil paintings.
  36. disarray
    untidiness, especially of clothing and appearance
    Both subjects’ clothes were graphically in disarray.
  37. grandiose
    impressive because of unnecessary largeness or magnificence
    (Brown paper, especially wrapping paper, is very pleasant, very cosy to paint on. Many an experienced artist has used it when he wasn’t up to anything grand or grandiose.)
  38. motley
    consisting of a haphazard assortment of different kinds
    At a respectably subordinate distance behind Joseph came the women of Galilee, mixed in with a motley, perhaps gate-crashing crowd of mourners, spectators, children, and no less than three frisky, impious mongrels.
  39. impious
    lacking due respect or dutifulness
    At a respectably subordinate distance behind Joseph came the women of Galilee, mixed in with a motley, perhaps gate-crashing crowd of mourners, spectators, children, and no less than three frisky, impious mongrels.
  40. mongrel
    an inferior dog or one of mixed breed
    At a respectably subordinate distance behind Joseph came the women of Galilee, mixed in with a motley, perhaps gate-crashing crowd of mourners, spectators, children, and no less than three frisky, impious mongrels.
  41. cavil
    raise trivial objections
    There were no other serious flaws in the picture. None, that is, worthy of anything but cavilling mention.
  42. tacit
    implied by or inferred from actions or statements
    A tacit but iron-bound procedure covered all evening meals at Les Amis Des Vieux Maitres.
  43. magpie
    someone who collects things discarded by others
    I’ve been as saving as an exceptionally neurotic magpie all my life, and I still have the next-to-the-last draft of the letter I wrote to Sister Irma that June night in 1939. I could reproduce all of it here verbatim, but it isn’t necessary.
  44. verbatim
    using exactly the same words
    I’ve been as saving as an exceptionally neurotic magpie all my life, and I still have the next-to-the-last draft of the letter I wrote to Sister Irma that June night in 1939. I could reproduce all of it here verbatim, but it isn’t necessary.
  45. syntax
    the grammatical arrangement of words in sentences
    The last few lines (or cubic feet) of my letter should, I think, be reproduced here—syntax, punctuation, and all.
Created on Mon Oct 30 12:43:00 EDT 2017 (updated Mon Apr 08 16:31:31 EDT 2019)

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