Results tagged “jdsalinger”

Holden Caulfield has been preserved for the time being, as a federal judge ruled that the the unauthorized "sequel" to Catcher in the Rye cannot be published in the United States, at least temporarily. The NY Times reports that Judge Deborah A. Batts "granted a 10-day temporary restraining order forbidding publication in the United States of a new book by a Swedish author that contains a 76-year-old version of Holden Caulfield while she considers arguments in a copyright-infringement case filed by Mr. Salinger." This whole thing would be more interesting if J.D. Salinger were actually showing up in court. During one past lawsuit, some of his personal remarks (from letters he didn't want published) were leaked, including one written in response to his ex-girlfriend Oona O'Neill's marriage to Charlie Chaplin. He wrote, "I can see them at home evenings. Chaplin squatting grey and nude, atop his chiffonier, swinging his thyroid around his head by his bamboo cane, like a dead rat. Oona in an aquamarine gown, applauding madly from the bathroom." Old man still has those writing chops!

The 33-year-old author using the pen name J. D. California, who penned a sequel of sorts to the classic Catcher in the Rye, should have known that J.D. Salinger doesn't take too kindly to phony folk. California's book is described as “An Unauthorized Fictional Examination of the Relationship Between J. D. Salinger and his Most Famous Character,” and prior to its U.S. release it has landed in the courtroom. Unsurprising, since Salinger has even kept the likes of Steven Spielberg from touching his characters. While he hasn't published a new work since 1965, he's done a good job at preserving his old ones (often through lawsuits like this one).

Will the 90-year-old J.D. Salinger be forced to leave his New Hampshire home and return to New York City after leaving in 1953? The reclusive and elusive author filed a lawsuit yesterday in Manhattan federal court. The NY Post reports that the move was to "block an anonymous author from cashing in on the iconic coming-of-age novel with a follow-up titled 60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye." The book has a character named Mr. C leaving a nursing home to visit many of the places Holden Caulfield did in the 1951 novel Catcher in the Rye. The book is dedicated to Salinger, where he is called: "the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life." The author, who goes by John David California, calls the hermetic legend a "great inspiration." If Salinger wins, all of California's copies of the book will be destroyed, and "he's also seeking unspecified damages from the alleged copycat author, saying his copyright 'is worth an enormous amount of money.'" This isn't the first time he's sued in a copycat case. Aspiring authors: the world doesn't need a sequel to any great classics (Catcher in the Rye 2: Electric Boogaloo just doesn't sound right).