J. D. Salinger

Popularly known as J. D. Salinger, Jerome David Salinger was an American writer who came to fame thanks to his literary works, particularly The Catcher in the Rye. The novel’s autobiographic nature made it famous, and it easily synced with the generation of young men undergoing societal dictated frustrations. It got much of national acclaim, including from the New York Times, which described it as an unusually brilliant first novel. Even though it achieved such great success, the novel did not convince Salinger to publish another novel.

Personal life

J. D. Salinger was born on January 1, 1919, in the United States, New York City. He is the last child to a rabbi father, Sol Salinger, and mother, Miriam. Much of his youthful life was spent at Valley Forge Military Academy after failing to record impressive school scores. He operated a well-performing cheese and ham import business. His parents successfully clung to their marriage despite it being apparent that mixed marriages were not that popular at the time. To avoid a lot of controversies, the rabbi chose to hide his wife’s non-Jewish background. He did this so well that Salinger only knew about it when he turned 14.

Salinger was known to be the kind of person who irreversibly moved forward with life. For instance, in 1972 he received a letter from his divorced wife, Sylvia, while with his daughter, Margaret. After opening the letter, he tore it into pieces given it was the first time he had heard from her since they broke up.

J. D. Salinger died on January 27, 2010, having served the world with numerous writings. As much as he did not publish any work in the last four decades of his life, Salinger still wrote in his private life. It is speculated that more than ten finished novels are stashed somewhere in his house.

Education life

Salinger had a bit of a challenge with his schooling to the extent that his parents sent him to Valley Forge Military Academy. He later joined Ursinus College and New York University. He also had time to study Ramakrishna’s writings.

Writing career

At 21, the writer published his first story with a title from Whit Burnett, the editor of Columbia University. Whit Burnett encouraged Salinger to continue publishing in the magazine, something that made him get more publications, including getting history ? to be published in the New Yorker.

Since then, he has had numerous publications like Carpenters, Raise High the Roof Beam, and Seymour an Introduction, in addition to his famous novel. He also has a couple of short stories. Many of his published works make him the legend he is today.

Furthermore, he experienced World War II. When the United States entered the war, Salinger was enlisted to interrogate French and German prisoners for the counter-intelligence unit.

Salinger also tried writing for the film industry. According to Ian Hamilton, the author was disappointed when his short story, The Varioni Brothers, did not pick up as expected.