JD Salinger The Catcher in the Rye Family Life
❖ 1919: Jerome David Salinger born in Manhattan
❖ One older sister - Doris Family Life
❖ Mother was 1/2 Irish, 1/2 Scottish
❖ Father was Jewish
❖ Sol was a Kosher cheese & meat merchant Family Life
❖ JD pressured by father to take over the family business
❖ Father even sent him to Europe to learn about the meat business Family Life
❖ JD was disgusted by the meat industry
❖ Disgust + bitterness towards his dad led him to be vegetarian Family Life
❖ Cold & distant relationship with father continued
❖ JD did not even attend father’s funeral Family Life
❖ Many events in life inspired him to create his most famous character - Holden Caulfield. School/Military
❖ Like Holden, JD flunked out of various private schools School/Military
❖ 1936: Graduated from Valley Forge Military Academy
❖ Like Holden, was manager of the Fencing Team School/Military
❖ Attended many colleges
❖ Never graduated from any School/Military
❖ Fought in Europe during WWII
❖ Was involved in D-Day
❖ Member of 12th Infantry Regiment
❖ Within 2 weeks, 75% of regiment were killed School/Military
❖ During service was hospitalized for PTSD School/Military
❖ Had enjoyed military life at Valley Forge
❖ Resented it after the war
❖ 1946: Honorably discharged from the military Love Life
❖ Like Holden, interesting & inconsistent relationships with women Love Life
❖ Fell in love with Oona O’Neill
❖ She left him for Charlie Chaplin, whom she later married Wife #1: Sylvia
❖ German woman he met after the war
❖ 1 daughter with her
❖ Had marriage annulled
❖ She returned to Germany Wife #2: Claire
❖ (15 years younger)
❖ 2 children
❖ Margaret - most recognized offspring
❖ Wrote the best-known biography of JD
❖ Dream Catcher Wife #2: Claire
❖ Wanted her to drop out of college 3 months before graduating Wife #2: Claire
❖ Met during a yoga class
❖ During his relationship with Claire, they dabbled in other religions
❖ Buddhism, Scientology, Christian Science, Urine Therapy, & others
❖ Also led to the divorce Wife #2: Claire
❖ Claire later admitted to Margaret that she thought of killing her when she was only 13 months old and committing suicide. Girlfriends
❖ 1972: Mistress, Joyce Maynard
❖ After divorce, she moved in with him when she was 18
❖ He dumped her because of “sexual issues”
❖ (He was 53) Girlfriends
❖ Catherine Oxenberg
❖ Actress: Dynasty
❖ Daughter of Yugoslavian princess
❖ (42 years younger) Girlfriends
❖ Elaine Joyce
❖ Actress: The Young and the Restless, Days of Our Lives
❖ (25 years younger) Wife #3: Colleen ❖ 1988: Married
❖ (She was engaged when they met)
❖ No evidence of infidelity
❖ Remained married over 20 years until his death
❖ (40 years younger)
❖ (4 years younger than his daughter, Margaret) Writing Career
❖ 1940: Published first short story, “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” Writing Career
❖ 1951: Catcher in the Rye published
❖ Only full-length published novel Writing Career
❖ 1961: Franny & Zooey published
❖ 1963: Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters published
❖ Both are collections of short stories about the fictional Glass family Writing Career
❖ 1965: Last story about Glass family flopped
❖ Felt ashamed
❖ Withdrew from society
❖ Stopped trying to publish Writing Career
❖ Lived a very secretive life in later years
❖ Led to a cult status
❖ Fans of CiTR would wait outside his house to catch a glimpse of him Writing Career
❖ January 27, 2010: Died of natural causes in his New Hampshire home
❖ 91 years old Controversy
❖ At the same time, CITR has been both one of the most taught books & most banned books.
❖ 1961-1982: The most banned book in US high schools
❖ Problems: Profanity, suicide, underage drinking/ smoking, blasphemy, sex & prostitution, lying, Stream of Consciousness Controversy
❖ 1980: Mark David Chapman assassinated John Lennon
❖ 1981: John Hinckley, Jr. attempted to assassinate Ronald Reagan
❖ 1989: Robert John Bardo shot model/actress Rebecca Shaeffer.
❖ All found with copies of Catcher in the Rye Literary Terms
Stream of Consciousness – A style of writing in which the narrative follows the flow of thoughts that a character is having. Appears random & seems to have no structure or chronology. Literary Terms
Unreliable Narrator - A narrator of a story whose perception of reality cannot be trusted due to ignorance, illness, or emotional imbalance. The author expects the alert reader to notice inconsistencies.