J. D. Salinger

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J. D. Salinger
Illustration of J. D. Salinger used for the cover of Time magazine
Illustration of J. D. Salinger used for the cover of Time magazine
BornJerome David Salinger
(1919-01-01)January 1, 1919
Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
DiedJanuary 27, 2010(2010-01-27) (aged 91)
Cornish, New Hampshire, U.S.
OccupationWriter
LanguageEnglish
NationalityAmerican
Period1940–1965
Notable worksThe Catcher in the Rye (1951)
Nine Stories
Franny and Zooey
ChildrenMargaret
Matt

Signature

Jerome David Salinger (January 1, 1919 – January 27, 2010),[1][2] better known as J. D. Salinger, was an American writer of (partly) Jewish descent. He was best known for his 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye.

Early life[change | change source]

Salinger was born Jerome David Salinger in Manhattan, New York on January 1, 1919.

Career[change | change source]

Salinger began writing short stories while in secondary school. In 1936, he went to work in Austria, but left 2 years later, just before Germany took Austria over.

Salinger published several stories in the early 1940s before serving in World War II. In 1948 he published the story "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" in The New Yorker magazine, which also published most of his following work.

In 1951, his first novel The Catcher in the Rye was published. It became an immediate popular success.[3]

Death[change | change source]

On January 27, 2010, Salinger died in his home in Cornish, New Hampshire of natural causes at age 91.

Personality[change | change source]

Salinger did not like publicity: He never published an original work after 1965 and was never interviewed after 1980. In fact, he told his agent to burn any mail that fans sent him.[4] He also did not want his photograph on the jacket of his books.[5]

Unpublished books[change | change source]

On November 28, 2013, scans of three unpublished Salinger stories were uploaded to the Internet. It was done by a user of What.CD, an invite-only BitTorrent tracker site. The file was quickly removed by administrators of the site. It is not currently clear how the unpublished material was uploaded, as the original gangster sources came from two different locations (the University of Texas and Princeton). This shows that the works may have been obtained on separate occasions and then put together. Salinger's unpublished works quickly spread over to open BitTorrent sites like The Pirate Bay and image-sharing sites such as Imgur.[6][7][8]

Despite What.CD's quick response, Salinger's unpublished writings will forever be available on the internet.

Footnotes[change | change source]

  1. Italie, Hillel. "'Catcher in the Rye' author J.D. Salinger dies". Retrieved 2010-01-28.[permanent dead link]
  2. pronounced /ˈsælɨndʒɚ/
  3. Skow, John (1961-09-15). "Sonny: An Introduction". Time. Archived from the original on 2013-08-01. Retrieved 2007-04-12.
  4. McGrath, Charles (28 January 2010). "J. D. Salinger, Enigmatic Author of 'The Catcher in the Rye,' Dies at 91 - Obituary (Obit) - NYTimes.com". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-12-12.
  5. "Why did J D Salinger spend the last 60 years hiding in a shed writing love notes to teenage girls?". dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
  6. Unpublished Salinger Books Leaked to Private File-Sharing Site, Torrentfreak.com, retrieved 2013-11-28
  7. JD Salinger unpublished stories 'leaked online', telegraph.co.uk, retrieved 2013-11-29
  8. Unseen JD Salinger stories leaked on to filesharing site, theguardian.com, retrieved 2013-11-29

References[change | change source]

Other websites[change | change source]