Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger English III—Novel Study

In 1941, Salinger sent The New Yorker a story called "Slight Rebellion Off Madison.” The story was about a troubled teenager named Holden Caulfield.. The New Yorker bought it and planned to run it in their Christmas issue.

Dec. 7, 1941 – The Japanese Attacked Pearl Harbor Salinger's story was put on hold. It was considered too trivial in a time of war.

World War II Salinger was drafted and took part in the D-Day invasion of Normandy. He also fought in the Battle of the Bulge, where between 50 and 200 soldiers in his division were killed or wounded every day.

Post-War At the end of the war, Salinger checked into an Army general hospital in Nuremberg, suffering from a nervous breakdown. He spent several months recuperating.

Holden’s Journey After Salinger's release from the hospital, the first Holden Caulfield story called "I'm Crazy” was published in Collier's in December of One year later, The New Yorker finally published "Slight Rebellion Off Madison.”

Catcher in the Rye was published July 17, 1951.

Success!

The Two Sides of The Catcher in the Rye One 1979 study of censorship noted that The Catcher in the Rye "had the dubious distinction of being at once the most frequently censored book across the nation and the second-most frequently taught novel in public high schools [after John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men]” (Whitfield 82).  Whitfield, Stephen J. "Cherished and Cursed: Toward a Cultural History of The Catcher in the Rye." (Dec 1997). The New England Quarterly. 567– 600.

The Two Sides … The book remains widely read and sells about 250,000 copies per year.

Meanwhile…