J. D. Salinger (1919 - 2009)

Jerome David Salinger, born January 1, 1919 in New York City, is the notably reclusive author best known for The Catcher in the Rye. After the publication of The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger moved to New Hampshire to escape the public eye. In recent years several tell-all biographies have been written by those close to him, including his daughter.

Salinger's BHC (before Holden Caulfield) career consisted of a few short stories, perhaps most notably "A Perfect Day for Bananafish," which appeared in the New Yorker magazine in 1949. This story introduced readers to Seymour Glass, who with his family would also appear in Franny and Zooey and Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour, an Introduction.

Salinger published 35 short stories, nine of which (including "A Perfect Day for Bananafish") are collected in Nine Stories.

Salinger's Books:
The Catcher in the Rye (1951)
Nine Stories (1953)
Franny and Zooey (1961)
Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour, an Introduction (1963)


Ed note: added year of death (wp)