Catcher in the Rye

1. Catcher in the Rye Background information about the book, its author, and its setting

2. Jerome David Salinger • Born in New York…1919 • Not much known about his early childhood • Brief periods attending college at NYU and Columbia…but much like Bradbury, Fitzgerald, and Steinbeck, Salinger wanted to devote his time to writing • Writing career interrupted by WWII • Returned from service in the U.S. Army in 1946 and resumed writing

3. Started writing for The New Yorker • Weekly magazine which publishes criticism, essays, investigative reporting, and fiction. • Some of Salinger’s most popular stories include “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” (1948) and “For Esme-With Love and Squalor” (1950)

4. Talented Author • In total, Salinger published 35 short stories in various publications including The Saturday Evening Post, Story and Colliers, and The New Yorker • Published in 1951, Catcher in the Rye was his first novel • He received major critical and popular recognition

5. Today • Since 1953, Salinger has resided in New Hampshire, and he claims that he is still writing • Salinger refuses to deal with the press or give interviews…he lives a life of total seclusion • Daughter wrote a book about life with her father, even though she knew he wouldn’t approve

6. Isolation • Personal info about Salinger is limited but in GREAT demand… • Letters written by Salinger to a young woman (with whom he had an affair) gained $156,000 at an auction • This young woman was 18 at the time (1972) • Salinger was 53! • the person who purchased them returned them to Salinger • Salinger’s demand for privacy stemmed from his awareness that his activities, such as several relationships with young women, might mar his career

7. New York, New York • And now for something completely different… • To gain a better understanding of where Holden goes, it’s nice to have a visual image…and for those of us who have never been to New York (myself included), I have provided some of these dazzling images here

8. New York, New York • Here are a list of some of the places that Holden visits and/or references: • The Natural History Museum, • Central Park, • Radio City Music Hall, • Greenwich Village, • Grand Central Station

9. The Natural History Museum of New York For 125 years, the American Museum of Natural History has been one of the world's preeminent science and research institutions, renowned for its collections and exhibitions that illuminate millions of years of the earth's evolution, from the birth of the planet through the present day.

10. Central Park

11. Radio City Music Hall

12. Radio City Music Hall • America's most popular entertainers have thrilled audiences at Radio City Music Hall since its doors opened December 27, 1932. • Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis Jr. and Tony Bennett to mention only a few of the celebrities and luminaries to grace the Great Stage. • Hugely popular then and today

13. Greenwich Village • Greenwich Village is set within a community in which many young celebrities choose to reside amid the tree-lined streets and charming low-rise buildings.  Scattered throughout the community is renowned jazz clubs, cafes, boutiques and nightclubs. • Greenwich Village has proudly been the home of renowned artists including • Mark Twain, • Henry James, • Edgar Allan Poe   .

14. Greenwich Village • Washington Square Park

15. Grand Central Station • Built in 1871 by Vanderbuilt • Grand Central preserves a little of the history and grandeur of old New York in the middle of modern Manhattan.

16. Catcher in the Rye • Considered a Masterpiece of American Literature • Deals with one character’s, Holden Caulfield, flashback of a period of 3 days • Considered the FIRST Young Adult piece of literature • YAL: fiction created especially for teens that deals with the possibilities and problems of contemporary life as experienced by this age group. These contemporary problem novels reflect the troubled times in which young readers are coming of age. • On the nation’s Banned Books List!

17. Censorship • The book is considered “dangerous” • Why, you might ask… • Vulgarity, • Violence, • Power Overthrows, • Sexual Content, • Alienation, • Alcohol, • School Drop Outs, • Poor Attitude Who’s excited to read it?

18. Popularity • The Catcher in the Rye has been linked to some of the most notorious murderers! • “The Catcher in the Rye is the book preferred 9 out of 10 by whacko's, serial killers, and disgruntled teenagers” (Tim Lieder-reflections about CitR) • John Lennon’s killer, Mark David Chapman, sat in his room in Hawaii before the murder and chanted over and over and over : “The phony must die says the catcher in the rye. The phony must die says the catcher in the rye. John Lennon must die says the catcher in the rye.”

19. Popularity • John Hinckley, attempted assassin of Ronald Regan, had a copy of The Catcher in the Rye in his hotel room. • He as also stated, “If you want my defense, all you have to do is read The Catcher in the Rye.”

21. Reactions from other Readers… • So where do the ducks go in the winter? By Tim Lieder • It seems that serial killers have great taste in literature. Just go read their favorite books. There isn’t a Richard Bach or Harlequin Romance fan amongst them. Our of a morbid curiosity I read something that is said to have influenced Charles Manson (Stranger in a Strange Land) and I find the answer to the question that I’ve been asking for years. Nietzche may have influenced the Nazis but he’s also one of the most profound philosophers of our age. Maybe it’s morbid to take book recommendations from serial killers, but who else can give you reading suggestions? Teacher? Friends? Oprah? Hell no! • The Catcher in the rye is the book preferred 9 times out of ten by whakos, serial killers, and disgruntled teenagers. (Ok, there’s not much differences in those categories but bear with me). John Lennon was killed to promote this book. John Hinckley may have been trying to impress Jody Foster, but he was also a big Catcher in the Rye fan. The level of general craziness surrounding this book is so bad that the Conspiracy Theory made it the running joke, even tracking Mel Gibson by monitoring purchases of the Catcher in the Rye.

22. So why is this book so influential? Why do normal people have underlined copies in their personal library? Why is every book whiney losers sitting around complaining about their lives, (where the major problem is that the damn author can’t think of a plot) compared favorably to the Catcher in the Rye? Because it is a book that speaks for the disgruntled, the frustrated, the adolescent. I read the Catcher in the Rye at the perfect age. I was 17, a frustrated freak in high school student, seemingly doomed to perpetual virginity. To be exposed to Holden Caulfield in this condition is an epiphany that a born-again Christian say they experience when they talk to Jesus. There is something unsettling about opening a book and reading something like: If you really want to hear about it, the first thing You’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and What my childhood was like, and how my parents Were occupied and all before they had me, and all That David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel Like going into it, if you want to know the truth.

23. Holden Caulfield is teen angst bullshit with a pickaxe. He’s sarcastic, nasty and completely unlikable. He also doesn’t give a shit. He is every teenager caught between the shitty little games of high school (“you’re suppose to kill yourself if the football team loses or something”) and the fear of adulthood (“going to get a office job and make a lot of money like the rest of the phonies”). The greatness in Holden Caulfield is that what he has to say is better than a million Celestine Prophecies or anything said by Jonathan Livingston Seagull (save for the squawks after you shoot him) or Jesus (save for the apocryphal “hey Peter I can see your house from here”). Holden Caulfield says that life sucks, everyone is a phony, and you’ll be inevitable disappointed by everyone that you hold in awe. If you think that this sounds awful, ask yourself one question. When was the last time you found any joy in watching Barney or the Care Bears?

24. It isn’t just what he says but the way he says it. He goes through life making dead-on observations that completely shoot the kneecaps out form under the terminally self- righteous. When a successful mortician tells the school to follow his example and pray when things go bad, it is Holden Caulfield who points out that the guy is praying for more people to die. He’s depressed by nuns and annoyed by shallow girlfriends, while in love with his platonic friend. What is also interesting is how closely Caulfield captures the altitude and culture of adolescence. There is the caste system in which Caulfield hates and wishes to be his roommate Stradlatter. Meanwhile zit-encrusted Ackley, whom he maybe should feel sympathy for, is an annoying fuck that Holden can’t wait to get out of his room. He’s sympathetic to the principal’s daughter, saying that it’s not her fault what a bastard her old man is, and without missing a beat remarks on the fact that she wears falsies. Cruelty and frustration are mixed, but the comedy level allows you to laugh, even as the painful memories bubble to the surface threatening to choke you.

25. Granted, like many of his fans, Holden Caulfield turns out to be nuts or at least residing in an insane asylum. (Sorry, if you think that those stupid surprise endings are the best reason to read Salinger.) Yet, in Caulfield’s insanity, there is a transcendent theme. By being the pissed off, nasty, cynical bastard; Holden Caulfield suggests that it is ok to be a shit. Your criticisms of the world are not invalid and nothing you say or think is so bad that you need to repress it. Ironically, this is not only something that is essential to survival (especially if you are a teenager and depressed trying to maintain your lily-white self image) but is also the key to ultimately becoming a decent caring human being. No one can grow up if they don’t deal with the awful side of themselves that hates everything. To repress it, is to give it power. To let it out to play is to learn to control that side Yes, I know it’s a Freudian idea and Freud is out of favor at the moment, but it works in this case. Keep your prophets, preachers, and shamans. I’ll take Holden Caulfield over them any day. • So what are your reactions to this article?