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
Image credit: Salinger in 1989
Series
Works by J. D. Salinger
Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction (1955) — Author — 6,680 copies, 64 reviews
The Catcher in the Rye / Nine Stories / Franny and Zooey / Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters / Seymour–An Introduction (2010) 51 copies, 1 review
J. D. Salinger: The Last Interview: And Other Conversations (The Last Interview Series) (2016) 37 copies
The Catcher in the Rye / Franny and Zooey / Nine Stories / Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters (1973) 31 copies
I'm Crazy 7 copies
This Sandwich Has No Mayonnaise 6 copies
The Varioni Brothers 5 copies
Last Day of the Last Furlough 5 copies
Soft-Boiled Sergeant 5 copies
Slight Rebellion off Madison 5 copies
The Hang of It 5 copies
The Long Debut of Lois Taggett 4 copies
Elaine 4 copies
The Stranger 4 copies
Blue Melody 3 copies
Once a Week Won't Kill You 3 copies
Birthday Boy 2 copies
The Inverted Forest 2 copies
Personal Notes on an Infantryman 2 copies
1966 1 copy
麥田捕手 1 copy
The Chatcher in the Rye 1 copy
אני, ניו-יורק וכל השאר 1 copy
Shazaam! 1 copy
[No title] 1 copy
Associated Works
The Graphic Canon, Vol. 3: From Heart of Darkness to Hemingway to Infinite Jest (2013) — Contributor — 162 copies, 1 review
Novellin parhaita 5 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
- Education
- McBurney School
Valley Forge Military Academy
New York University
Ursinus College
Columbia University - Occupations
- novelist
short story writer
counterintelligence officer (WWII)
soldier (WWII) - 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 - 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) - 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.
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- New York, New York, USA
- Places of residence
- Vienna, Austria
Windsor, Vermont, USA - Place of death
- Cornish, New Hampshire, USA
- Map Location
- USA
Members
Discussions
The Catcher In The Rye (general discussion) in J.D. Salinger: Author In The Rye (December 2025)
Nine Stories (general discussion) in J.D. Salinger: Author In The Rye (May 2025)
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
In Holden Caulfield, Salinger creates one hell of a cynical bastard. But Caulfield is no ordinary bastard; he is a bastard with a mirror in his hand. A mirror that would reflect your own adolescence to you and make you nostalgic like hell, if you read the book when you are way past your teen years.
Therefore, its kind of a bipolar narrative. If you can relate with Caulfield in any of his multifarious misanthropic dimensions, you can finish the book in one breath and end up loving it. In show more Holden's own words, it would kill you. Or else, you'd read it as meaningless foul discourse. In my case, it killed me and forced me to dig into my 20 year old diaries and letters. show less
Therefore, its kind of a bipolar narrative. If you can relate with Caulfield in any of his multifarious misanthropic dimensions, you can finish the book in one breath and end up loving it. In show more Holden's own words, it would kill you. Or else, you'd read it as meaningless foul discourse. In my case, it killed me and forced me to dig into my 20 year old diaries and letters. show less
Salinger's novel continues to "catch" freshly graduated obnoxious teenagers at every turn. Everyone thinks this novel is extolling the virtues of a state of teenage hood that they've passed through and are busy trying to distance themselves from, like a John Hughes movie.
But alas, this novel is not really about teenage jerkyness and vanity, it's about inconsolable grief.
Detractors should read it again carefully this time and wince. Mr Salinger has a valuable life lesson if you've got an show more ear.
We have all got more in common with Mr Caulfield than we care to admit. ;) show less
But alas, this novel is not really about teenage jerkyness and vanity, it's about inconsolable grief.
Detractors should read it again carefully this time and wince. Mr Salinger has a valuable life lesson if you've got an show more ear.
We have all got more in common with Mr Caulfield than we care to admit. ;) show less
When I first read this book I was pretty much the same age as Holden Caulfield but much less worldly than him so I thought he was sophisticated and cool. Reading it now, I just feel sorry for him. He never seems to have dealt with the death of his brother nor have his parents. He is obviously becoming an alcoholic and he needs a lot of therapy. I do find his bonds with his sister and his older brother to give hope. Recently, a friend returned some letters I had written her when I was that show more age. The similarities between my writing and phrasing and the way Salinger has Holden write are dead on. Salinger really caught that teenage angst. show less
The Catcher in the Rye is often billed as a coming of age novel, but it is far more than that. Though written in the early 50s, Holden Caulfield and his journey still represents the challenges young men face navigating childhood trauma of sexual abuse and societal expectations of being someone when growing up. This was a re-read for a book club and I had forgotten the potency of the words and the descriptions. It was glorious those quick fired snippets that perfectly capture a person or a scene.
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Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 77
- Also by
- 12
- Members
- 113,788
- Popularity
- #73
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 1,598
- ISBNs
- 637
- Languages
- 40
- Favorited
- 485
