RIP J.D. Salinger

Notoriously reclusive author J.D. Salinger has died at age 91 in New Hampshire, where he had been living since 1953. The author's son said in a statement from Salinger's literary representative that he died of natural causes at his home in Cornish, where he had isolated himself from most of the world.

In 1974, in a rare interview given to The New York Times, he said: "I love to write. But I write just for myself and my own pleasure." In her memoir, his daughter Margaret Salinger noted that he did keep writing, and last year The Guardian reported that it was rumored he had "produced hundreds of short stories, and perhaps scores of novels over the past however-many decades." He had allegedly set up a detailed filing system for his unpublished manuscripts: "A red mark meant, if I die before I finish my work, publish this 'as is,' blue meant publish but edit first, and so on."

UPDATE: Salinger’s representatives said that “in keeping with his lifelong, uncompromising desire to protect and defend his privacy, there will be no service." And the NY Times has now published their lengthy obituary for the author.

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By Jen Carlson in Arts and Events on January 28, 2010 1:14 PM

Comments [rss]

adpwnage

The fact that I thought he was dead just goes to show how much info was out about him and his reclusive life. I love how I was also ordered to read Catcher in the Rye for English class & still have the copy but never read it.

kafkask

an unlikable man writing about unlikeable people.

ides_of_march

Catcher in the Rye was boring piece of drivel. For some reason high school English teachers seemed to have a fetish for it.

turtlepower

Spirit in the sky time.

kazubes

Its a shame that Catcher became the piece that defined him thanks to the education system, but Salinger actually wrote some really great stories. Franny and Zooey, in my opinion, is a great read.

jibbly

Franny & Zooey is arguably the better "novel", but his best works were short stories. Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters is my favorite.

jibbly

RIP

Unfortunately the unpublished stuff will be doled out in small increments to maximize publisher and heir/ess profits.

DanielJ

It may be cliched, but reading Catcher in the Rye for the first time at age 16 was a life-changing experience. Subsequent readings have been like visiting an old friend, anong with a detailed snapshot of NY in 1949.

I hope he rests in peace.

HOTCUP

such a great mind: http://www.theonion.com/content/news/new_terminator_movie_brings_j_d

Malcolm Tucker

Wow, first Howard Zinn and now JD Salinger? These things always happen in threes, so if I was Thomas Pynchon, I'd be watching my ass.

FJF

Soon the world will find out if we've lost one of the greatest writers of our time or a one-hit hack.

henryhamilton

Wrote some very compelling stuff. Almost everyone reads Salinger young, and this increases its impact. Has anyone read "Catcher" for the first time at age 50? I tip my hat, and glass, but got over him years ago.