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..