J.D. Salinger

1
J.D. Salinger
2
Jerome David Salinger

• Born - January 1, 1919 - Manhattan, NY
• Parents were wealthy
• Didnt have a great
• relationship with his dad
• Went to prep schools,
• military school, Europe,
• and college in NY

3
J.D. Salinger

• Born in NYC to parents Sol and Miriam father was
  Jewish, mother, Catholic
• Jerome David Salinger
• Recognized as one of the most popular and
  influential authors of American fiction during
  the second half of the twentieth century.
• Has, by his own choice, remained out of the
  public eye for most of his life.

4
Salingers Life

• Salingers work reflects a great awareness of the
  struggles of adolescents who are alienated from
  the materialistic world of their parents.
• His only novel, Catcher in the Rye, stays
  relevant because many adolescents identify with
  the protagonist, Holden Caulfield.
• Salingers craft is marked by keen dialogue, and
  an awareness of the frustrations of life in
  America post-WWII.

5
Experiences in War

• Drafted into the Infantry in WWII
• Involved in the invasion of Normandy
• Involved in a useless battle at Hürtgenwald
• Witnessed atrocities of war
• Suffered from PTSS (post-traumatic stress
  syndrome), a.k.a. shell shock

6
Publications

• Early short stories - published in magazines
• Story
• Saturday Evening Post
• Esquire
• The New Yorker
• Stories eventually published in collections
• Franny and Zooey
• Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters
• Nine Stories

7
Publications

• The Catcher in the Rye
• Salingers only novel (that we know of)
• Published in 1951
• Immediate success - quickly reached 4 on the New
  York Times Bestseller List
• Book-of-the-Month Club selection
• Never out of print - still sells 250,000 copies
  annually

8
After Success

• Couldnt stand the attention he received from
  Catcher.
• Lived the rest of his life as a recluse in New
  Hampshire
• In his last interview, he said that he loved to
  write, but he wrote for himself only

9
(No Transcript)