J. D. Salinger (1919–2010)
Author of The Catcher in the Rye
About the Author
J. D. Salinger was born in New York City on January 1, 1919. He attended Manhattan public schools, Valley Forge Military Academy in Pennsylvania, and three colleges, but received no degrees. He was from an upper class Jewish family and they lived on the upper west side of Manhattan on Park Avenue. show more Salinger joined the U. S. Army in 1942 and fought in the D-Day invasion at Normandy as well as the Battle of the Bulge, but suffered a nervous breakdown due to all he had seen and experienced in the war and checked himself into an Army hospital in Germany in 1945. In December 1945, his short story I'm Crazy was published in Collier's. In 1947, his short story A Perfect Day for Bananafish was published in The New Yorker. Throughout his lifetime, he wrote more than 30 short stories and a handful of novellas, which were published in magazines and later collected in works such as Nine Stories, Franny and Zooey, and Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction. The Catcher in the Rye, published in 1951, was his only novel. His last published story, Hapworth 16, 1924, appeared in 1965. He spent the remainder of his years in seclusion and silence in a home in Cornish, New Hampshire. He died of natural causes on January 27, 2010 at the age of 91. Salinger always wanted to write the great American novel; when he succeeded in this with Catcher in the Rye, he was unprepared for the onslaught on privacy issues that this popularity brought on. He never wanted to be in the spotlight and retreated from all contacts he had in New York City. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by J. D. Salinger
The Catcher in the Rye / Nine Stories / Franny and Zooey / Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters / Seymour–An… (2010) 43 copies
J. D. Salinger: The Last Interview: And Other Conversations (The Last Interview Series) (2016) 29 copies
The Catcher in the Rye / Franny and Zooey / Nine Stories / Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters (1973) 24 copies
Three Stories 9 copies
I'm Crazy 7 copies
This Sandwich Has No Mayonnaise 6 copies
The Ocean Full of Bowling Balls 6 copies
The Hang of It 5 copies
The Varioni Brothers 5 copies
A Boy in France 5 copies
Last Day of the Last Furlough 5 copies
Slight Rebellion off Madison 5 copies
Soft-Boiled Sergeant 5 copies
The Long Debut of Lois Taggett 4 copies
Elaine 4 copies
The Stranger 4 copies
Once a Week Won't Kill You 3 copies
Blue Melody 3 copies
Diary of a wicked war 2 copies
Birthday Boy 2 copies
Paula 2 copies
Personal Notes on an Infantryman 2 copies
The Inverted Forest 2 copies
Zabhegyezö 1 copy
ZA ESME devet prica 1 copy
1966 1 copy
Φράνυ και Ζούι 1 copy
[No title] 1 copy
El guardian entreel centeno 1 copy
אני, ניו-יורק וכל השאר 1 copy
Dokuz Öykü 1 copy
Malcolm X: An Introduction 1 copy
Four Books by J. D. Salinger 1 copy
Shazaam! 1 copy
Till Esmé 1 copy
Associated Works
The Graphic Canon, Vol. 3: From Heart of Darkness to Hemingway to Infinite Jest (2013) — Contributor — 149 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Salinger, J.D.
- Legal name
- Salinger, Jerome David
- Birthdate
- 1919-01-01
- Date of death
- 2010-01-27
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Country (for map)
- USA
- Birthplace
- New York, New York, USA
- Place of death
- Cornish, New Hampshire, USA
- Places of residence
- Vienna, Austria
Windsor, Vermont, USA - Education
- McBurney School
Valley Forge Military Academy
New York University
Ursinus College
Columbia University - Occupations
- novelist
short-story writer
counterintelligence officer (WWII)
soldier (WWII) - Relationships
- Salinger, Margaret (daughter)
Douglas, Claire (1) (wife|divorced)
Maynard, Joyce (domestic partner)
Hemingway, Ernest (friend)
Maxwell, William (friend)
Ross, Lillian (friend) (show all 12)
Shawn, William (friend)
Burnett, Whit (teacher)
Hand, Learned (friend)
Hadley, Leila (friend)
Hotchner, A. E. (friend)
Salinger, Matt (son) - Organizations
- US Army (U.S. 12th Infantry Regiment ∙ WWII)
Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC)
The New Yorker
Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center of New York - Awards and honors
- Five Battle Stars
Presidential Unit Citation for Valor - Short biography
- Jerome David Salinger was an American writer best known for his novel The Catcher in the Rye. Salinger published several short stories in Story magazine in the early 1940s before serving in World War II. In 1948, his critically acclaimed story "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" appeared in The New Yorker, which became home to much of his later work. The Catcher in the Rye was published in 1951 and became an immediate popular success. Salinger's depiction of adolescent alienation and loss of innocence in the protagonist Holden Caulfield was influential, especially among adolescent readers. The novel was widely read and controversial.
Members
Discussions
Catcher in the Rye in Someone explain it to me... (August 2021)
Looking ahead to Salinger in Author Theme Reads (December 2013)
Salinger: For Esmé with Love and Squalor or Nine Stories in Author Theme Reads (December 2013)
Salinger: Catcher in the Rye in Author Theme Reads (December 2013)
J.D. Salinger Died Today in 1001 Books to read before you die (January 2010)
Reviews
Not my cup of tea at all. I forced myself to finish it. I can’t relate to the time period when this was written. The book had an innocence to it that was kind of appealing, but l just didn’t care for this book at all.
After recently re-reading Lord of the Flies and enjoying it much more than when I read it back in school, I thought I'd see if Catcher in the Rye improved upon re-reading. It didn't. I will never understand how this gets to the top of so many great novel lists.
Rich Kid's Blues - It Really Is.
If you set yourself a target of reading books published in 1951 you can't really ignore The Catcher in the Rye. I was surprised to learn however, that it had been published in serial form in 1945-46. It was a re-read for me although I can't remember how long ago I originally read it and I was under the impression that it was perhaps the original "Rebel Without a Cause" novel, but it really isn't. What did impress me this time round was how convincingly Salinger succeeds in getting inside the head of a 17 year old boy who doesn't fit in with his parents or his peer group. The novel is told by Holden Caulfield himself, as he battles the depression of a freezing weekend after he has been expelled from his fancy preparatory school in Pennsylvania and puts off the inevitable homecoming. His well to-do family will not be pleased especially as this is not the first time Holden has been expelled from school.
Holden is prone to exaggeration and is not the most reliable of witnesses, but he tells his story very much in his own words, exposing himself to ridicule as the boy who just can't be bothered to toe the line. There are perhaps reasons for his behaviour: he was close to his younger brother who died of Leukaemia, a friend at school, who may have had similar issues of inadequacy, commits suicide by throwing himself off the building and the only teacher who cares about Holden enough to try and help him, may have darker reasons for doing so. Holden is a complex character, he suffers his teenage angst more than most, he has moments of clear sight, but all is wrapped up in such immature behaviour that his best friend is his ten year old sister. Salinger's supreme achievement is to reveal the different facets of Holden's character in language that an immature 17 year old boy might use. He makes Holden believable and even likeable. As Holden desperately searches for ways to fill up the empty spaces in his weekend and the empty spaces in his life, his thoughts and mood swings, career around in ever decreasing circles. The use of a stream of conscious like technique enhances the confusion, the fears, the desperate actions of a young man seemingly at war with his peers and figures in authority.
Perhaps there had never been a novel quite like The Catcher in the Rye when it finally appeared in 1951 and so I would rate it as 5 stars for its originality. Re-reading it now in 2024, it is still a striking piece of work, but there are other themes jostling around in the confused whirl of Holden Caulfield's story that bear further thought; for example: The American Dream is not for everybody, even those who are in the upper reaches of society like Holden, what happens to those individuals who cannot sign up for it, are they sick, mentally unstable, delusional perhaps, do they risk being ostracised, cast aside or even being locked up. There is no safety net for those who do not conform and we know that Holden will find this out soon enough. In my opinion this is still an impressive read, even though Holden's errant behaviour no longer seems rebellious.… (more)
If you set yourself a target of reading books published in 1951 you can't really ignore The Catcher in the Rye. I was surprised to learn however, that it had been published in serial form in 1945-46. It was a re-read for me although I can't remember how long ago I originally read it and I was under the impression that it was perhaps the original "Rebel Without a Cause" novel, but it really isn't. What did impress me this time round was how convincingly Salinger succeeds in getting inside the head of a 17 year old boy who doesn't fit in with his parents or his peer group. The novel is told by Holden Caulfield himself, as he battles the depression of a freezing weekend after he has been expelled from his fancy preparatory school in Pennsylvania and puts off the inevitable homecoming. His well to-do family will not be pleased especially as this is not the first time Holden has been expelled from school.
Holden is prone to exaggeration and is not the most reliable of witnesses, but he tells his story very much in his own words, exposing himself to ridicule as the boy who just can't be bothered to toe the line. There are perhaps reasons for his behaviour: he was close to his younger brother who died of Leukaemia, a friend at school, who may have had similar issues of inadequacy, commits suicide by throwing himself off the building and the only teacher who cares about Holden enough to try and help him, may have darker reasons for doing so. Holden is a complex character, he suffers his teenage angst more than most, he has moments of clear sight, but all is wrapped up in such immature behaviour that his best friend is his ten year old sister. Salinger's supreme achievement is to reveal the different facets of Holden's character in language that an immature 17 year old boy might use. He makes Holden believable and even likeable. As Holden desperately searches for ways to fill up the empty spaces in his weekend and the empty spaces in his life, his thoughts and mood swings, career around in ever decreasing circles. The use of a stream of conscious like technique enhances the confusion, the fears, the desperate actions of a young man seemingly at war with his peers and figures in authority.
Perhaps there had never been a novel quite like The Catcher in the Rye when it finally appeared in 1951 and so I would rate it as 5 stars for its originality. Re-reading it now in 2024, it is still a striking piece of work, but there are other themes jostling around in the confused whirl of Holden Caulfield's story that bear further thought; for example: The American Dream is not for everybody, even those who are in the upper reaches of society like Holden, what happens to those individuals who cannot sign up for it, are they sick, mentally unstable, delusional perhaps, do they risk being ostracised, cast aside or even being locked up. There is no safety net for those who do not conform and we know that Holden will find this out soon enough. In my opinion this is still an impressive read, even though Holden's errant behaviour no longer seems rebellious.… (more)
Lists
Overdue Podcast (1)
BitLife (1)
100 (1)
Tagged Runaways (1)
Modernism (1)
Existentialism (1)
Teens (1)
Books I've Read (1)
Franklit (1)
Best Satire (1)
Read (1)
Pageturners (1)
Very Very Bad (1)
Cooper (1)
Urban Fiction (1)
BBC Big Read (1)
Books About Boys (1)
Books I've read (1)
Delete This List (1)
Read (1)
Best First Lines (1)
Banned Books (1)
1960s (1)
Short and Sweet (2)
sad girl books (2)
discontinued (2)
Nifty Fifties (3)
1950s (4)
Unread books (3)
Five star books (3)
Favourite Books (3)
A Novel Cure (2)
BBC Top Books (1)
Jim's Bookshelf (1)
Phoebe Bridgers (1)
AP Lit (1)
Fave Books (1)
scav (1)
Fiction For Men (1)
First Novels (1)
BBC Big Read (1)
Five Star Novels (1)
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 83
- Also by
- 11
- Members
- 103,570
- Popularity
- #88
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 1,443
- ISBNs
- 593
- Languages
- 39
- Favorited
- 482
I don't even know what the point of this book is. All of his opinions just got on my nerves - in the words of the Schwarzenegger - STOP WHINING!