Author
The Cather in the Rye is written by Jerome David Salinger and this is also his best
known novel. Jerome David Salinger was born in Manhattan, New York, on
January 1, 1919. His family consisted of his father (Sol Salinger), mother (Marie) and
older sister, Doris.
In his youth, Salinger attended public schools in Manhattan. In 1932 he enrolled at
the McBurney School, a nearby private school. At McBurney, he managed the
fencing team, wrote for the school newspaper and appeared in plays. His parents
then enrolled him at Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, Pennsylvania and he
began writing stories at night under the covers, with the aid of a flashlight. He
graduated in 1936. That fall, his father urged him to learn about the meat-importing
business, and he went to work at a company in Poland. He didn’t like it. He dropped
out after one semester.
In late 1941 Salinger began submitting short stories to The New Yorker.
In the spring of 1942, several months after the U.S. entered World War II, Salinger
was drafted into the army. He was present at Utah Beach on D-Day. After the war, he
suffered severe post-traumatic stress and went into psychotherapy for a long time.
Salinger continued to write while serving in the army, publishing several stories in
slick magazines such as Collier's and The Saturday Evening Post. His biographers
David Shields and Shane Salerno said, "World War II destroyed the man in him but
made him a great artist. Faith gave him the comfort he needed as a human, but killed
his art."
From 1965, Time magazine established relationships between his work and his
private life. Because of this Salinger led a deeply secluded life. Salinger struggled
with unwanted attention. He never was an 'easy' person, not even for his immediate
environment. Disappointed in the literary world, he categorically denied any contact
with the outside world.
Salinger only published about thirty-five stories in his lifetime, but he is considered
one of the most widely read and most talked about American writers of the post-war
era. Salinger's influence on many contemporary writers is far-reaching (Philip Roth,
John Updike). Salinger died in 2010 of natural causes at his New Hampshire home,
at the age of 91.
Genre and history
The catcher in the rye is a Bildungsroman and that’s a literary genre that focuses on
the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood, in
which character change is important. Despite being a bildungsroman, The Catcher in
the Rye also contains elements that critique the genre, making it a literary satire as
well. Literary satire exaggerates and tweaks conventions of a genre to comment on
The Cather in the Rye is written by Jerome David Salinger and this is also his best
known novel. Jerome David Salinger was born in Manhattan, New York, on
January 1, 1919. His family consisted of his father (Sol Salinger), mother (Marie) and
older sister, Doris.
In his youth, Salinger attended public schools in Manhattan. In 1932 he enrolled at
the McBurney School, a nearby private school. At McBurney, he managed the
fencing team, wrote for the school newspaper and appeared in plays. His parents
then enrolled him at Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, Pennsylvania and he
began writing stories at night under the covers, with the aid of a flashlight. He
graduated in 1936. That fall, his father urged him to learn about the meat-importing
business, and he went to work at a company in Poland. He didn’t like it. He dropped
out after one semester.
In late 1941 Salinger began submitting short stories to The New Yorker.
In the spring of 1942, several months after the U.S. entered World War II, Salinger
was drafted into the army. He was present at Utah Beach on D-Day. After the war, he
suffered severe post-traumatic stress and went into psychotherapy for a long time.
Salinger continued to write while serving in the army, publishing several stories in
slick magazines such as Collier's and The Saturday Evening Post. His biographers
David Shields and Shane Salerno said, "World War II destroyed the man in him but
made him a great artist. Faith gave him the comfort he needed as a human, but killed
his art."
From 1965, Time magazine established relationships between his work and his
private life. Because of this Salinger led a deeply secluded life. Salinger struggled
with unwanted attention. He never was an 'easy' person, not even for his immediate
environment. Disappointed in the literary world, he categorically denied any contact
with the outside world.
Salinger only published about thirty-five stories in his lifetime, but he is considered
one of the most widely read and most talked about American writers of the post-war
era. Salinger's influence on many contemporary writers is far-reaching (Philip Roth,
John Updike). Salinger died in 2010 of natural causes at his New Hampshire home,
at the age of 91.
Genre and history
The catcher in the rye is a Bildungsroman and that’s a literary genre that focuses on
the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood, in
which character change is important. Despite being a bildungsroman, The Catcher in
the Rye also contains elements that critique the genre, making it a literary satire as
well. Literary satire exaggerates and tweaks conventions of a genre to comment on
