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J. D. Salinger

J. D. SalingerAKA Jerome David Salinger

Born: 1-Jan-1919
Birthplace: New York City

Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Novelist

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Catcher in the Rye

Military service: US Army Signal and Counter Intelligence Corps, WWII

J.D. Salinger's father was a Jewish importer of hams, and his mother was Catholic. Both sets of in-laws reportedly disapproved of the marriage, and J.D.'s father seems to have generally disapproved of his son. The feeling was mutual; J.D. skipped his father's funeral and later stopped eating meat. After being booted from at least one private high school, young J.D. -- or "Sonny", as his father called him -- was sent to Valley Forge Military Academy in Pennsylvania, which was later the inspiration for Pencey Prep in Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. After high school, Salinger was drafted into the Army, and fought in the bloody Battle of Normandy.

Catcher in the Rye, Salinger's first and only known novel, took him ten years to write, and became an instant hit when the Book-of-the-Month Club chose it as their main selection in 1951. It has never gone out of print, and as the novel's popularity grew its author became more and more reclusive. He reportedly still writes, but only for himself, not for publication.

Father: Sol Salinger
Mother: Marie Jillich ("Miriam")
Wife: Sylvia (m. 1945, div. 1947)
Wife: Claire Douglas (m. 1955, div. 1967, one daughter, one son)
Daughter: Margaret Salinger ("Peggy", b. 1955)
Son: Matt Salinger (actor)
Wife: Colleen O'Neil
Girlfriend: Oona O'Neill
Mistress: Joyce Maynard (1972)

    High School: Valley Forge Military Academy, Wayne, PA
    University: New York University
    University: Ursinus College
    University: Columbia University

    Nervous Breakdown
    Jewish Ancestry Paternal
    Risk Factors: Vegetarian, Orgone, Urolagnia

Is the subject of books:
Dream Catcher: A Memoir, 2000, BY: Margaret Salinger, DETAILS: unauthorized biography

Author of books:
The Catcher in the Rye (1951, novel)
Nine Stories (1953, short stories)
Franny and Zooey (1961, short stories)
Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters / Seymour, An Introduction (1963)


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