J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

Sarah Graham (The University of Leicester)

Ed. by Christopher Hugh Gair, University of Glasgow
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1951

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel
- Bildungsroman
Children's Literature
- Young Adult

Resources

When J. D. Salinger died on 27^th January 2010 he had not published any fiction since 1965, yet his passing was a globally reported news story. This level of public interest supports Ian Hamilton’s contention that Salinger’s writing will “figure in any conventional account of the best works of our time” (Hamilton, 1998, 8), principally because of the enduring popularity of his only novel, The Catcher in the Rye. First published in July 1951, Catcher became one of the most-loved, critically acclaimed, controversial and best-selling American novels of the century. It proved far more popular than its author ever anticipated: it has been translated into more than thirty languages and is reported to have sold o…

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3450 words

Citation: Graham, Sarah. "The Catcher in the Rye". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 August 2010 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=1361, accessed 24 November 2024.]

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