J.D. Salinger, famous recluse & author, dies at age 91

I was going to save this one for the links, but I actually want to talk about J.D. Salinger. Salinger died yesterday in his home in New Hampshire. He was 91 years old, and he was arguably one of the most famous American writers ever to have lived. In his lifetime, he only published four books, amongst them Catcher in the Rye, considered one of the seminal pieces of literature of the 20th century.

Decades ago, J.D. Salinger left life in Manhattan for a simpler life, away from the endless hustle and bustle of life in the fast lane. It’s said that every major producer of the ’50s, 60s and 70s wanted to make Catcher into a film, but Salinger would never sign away the film rights. It’s become something of legend, that Salinger left New York for the country because he didn’t like the culture of celebrity, and he wanted to get away from all of that nonsense – and that was so many years ago. One could only imagine what he must of thought of what passes for “celebrity” today. The irony is that the legend of Salinger, the myth of the recluse made Salinger even more famous.

J.D. Salinger, whose iconic novel Catcher in the Rye is considered a cultural high point of the middle 20th century, died Wednesday. He was 91.

The reclusive author died of natural causes at his home in Cornish, N.H., his son said in a statement released by Salinger’s literary representative. The Manhattan-born and raised Salinger had lived for more than 50 years in self-imposed isolation in New England.

Jerome David Salinger earned his lofty reputation with his 1951 novel about iconoclastic teenager Holden Caulfield. The writer also became something of a legend for, among many things, turning down decades’ worth of requests from Hollywood to turn his most famous work into a movie.

Besides Catcher, Salinger also wrote the collection Nine Stories and two compilations, each with two long stories about the fictional Glass family. They were Franny and Zooey and Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction.

[From People Magazine]

It is unknown if Salinger has spent his time in the country writing, or if we will ever see any of his later writings released posthumously. I hope so.

I must have read Franny and Zooey literally about a thousand times during my teenage years, but I haven’t picked it up in so long. I think that’s my weekend plan.

Rest in peace, J.D. Salinger.

Images and photos from Google Images.

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