J. D. Salinger J. D. Salinger Jerome David Salinger (; January 1, 1919 January 27, 2010) was an American writer known for his widely read novel, "The Catcher in the Rye". Following his early success publishing short stories and "The Catcher in the Rye", Salinger led a very private life for more than a half-century. He published his final original work in 1965 and gave his last interview in 1980. Salinger was raised in Manhattan and began writing short stories while in secondary school. Several were published in "Story" magazine in the early 1940s before he began serving in World War II. In
Salinger (book) edited, poorly conceived, and at times embarrassingly written." In "Los Angeles Review of Books", Cornel Bonca found "Salinger" to be "stuffed with lots of good raw information" and marked by a "clear, often compelling narrative." But overall, Bonca found that the "bloated" and "ham-fisted" book was "an elaborate cut-and-paste job" that constituted "a savage and somewhat revengeful disembowelment." Andrew Romano of "The Daily Beast" wrote ""Salinger" is full of fascinating revelations" though after its "breathless attempts" to explain its subject, "I still didn't have a handle on what Salinger was like." The average review score for the book on Amazon