Many say that J.D. Salinger is the best author of all time. He"'"s written many short stories, and a few novels including Franny and Zooey, and his most famous, Catcher in the Rye. Salinger has successfully dodge reporters and camera all his life. Catcher in the Rye, Salinger"'"s acclaimed first novel, was published in 1953 (Salinger). Salinger"'"s writing style is described to have it"'"s own atmosphere, a very '"'Shangri La'"' one (Pinsker 134). He is a very secretive person and has remained in this recluse fashion for most of his life. Throughout J.D. Salinger"'"s life, he encountered many trials and hardships, such as attending military school and fighting in World War 2, that ultimately led up to his writing of Catcher in the Rye, a novel with a protagonist that shares many similarities with Salinger.

Salinger was born in New York City to a Jewish father, who imported Kosher cheeses (Liukkonen 1). His fathers wife was Scotch and Irish (Liukkonen 1). During his youth, Salinger was called '"'Sonny'"' by his family and peers (Liukkonen 1). This nickname grew up with him, and some people still refer to him as Sonny. Salinger didn"'"t do so well in the prep schools

Eventually Salinger got older and experienced much more. In 1947, Salinger started to devote his entire life to writing (Liukkonen 1). He played poker with many other striving writers, but he was shunned from them (Liukkonen 1). Salinger was very honest in the ways that he criticized others as well (no surprise, Holden does it as well); he believes Hemingway and Steinbeck to be not so good writers, but he held Herman Melville very high (Liukkonen 1). Shortly before Salinger decided to settle down to become a full-time writer, he married a French doctor named Sylvia (Liukkonen 1). The marriage only lasted ten years, when Salinger divorced Sylvia and married a woman named Claire Douglas (Liukkonen 1). This marriage, too, ended in a short twelve years and then briefly after Salinger retreated into his own private world where he began to experiment with religion (Liukkonen 1).

Salinger and Holden Caulfield have much in common. They share the same likes and dislikes, and even their little quirks all throughout Salinger"'"s novel, Catcher in the Rye. Holden speaks a lot of fending off adulthood, and speaks his mind thoroughly on death, much like Salinger is believed to do (Bloom 23). Holden doesn"'"t want to grow up, he wants to stay a teenager, and he expresses this with his character (Pinsker 46). Pinsker critiques: '"'Holden Caulfield"'"s voice will endure in American literature because his voice could not belong to anyone else (Pinsker 46).'"' This is very true.

Many people also dislike Holden because of the way he lies to people. It is known throughout the world that going through life without a white lie is impossible, and Holden is no exception to that. He views his lies as '"'survival strategies'"' (Katzen 53).

When Catcher in the Rye was first published, it gained popularity very quickly (Katzen 19). It spread in the same way that an '"'underground band or movie would. First through college students, and then adult friends and book clubs, and then it hit the mainstream (Katzen 19). Surprisingly, Salinger withdrew his earliest printings of Catcher twice before the real printing (Katzen 18). Salinger insisted that the first man who attempted to print the book thought that Holden was crazy, and this was something that Salinger could definitely not life with (Katzen 18). Most authors agree that Catcher in the Rye is the novel that is most associated with the angst-ridden 50"'"s (Katzen 15). It is said that many other authors have pinched the idea of an anti-hero in their novels. Catcher caused many other '"'Holdens'"' to appear: A Separate Peace, A Temple of Gold, and David Copperfield (Katzen 13).

Salinger probably dislikes phony people, he"'"s had very much of that sort of thing during his whole life as an author. People trying to come in contact with him, people trying to buy the rights to a Catcher in the Rye movie, and so on. Salinger is just plain sick of the people who are only out for money, the people who thrive on the hundred-dollar bill life style. So when Holden says that he hates phonies, he has a reason. Salinger put those words in his mouth, as sort of a secondary voice to speak out what he is actually afraid to say. Holden is Salinger"'"s cry from the inside, a pleading cry for acceptance at times.

Holden protests everything;

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