Happy (belated) birthday J.D. Salinger

January 2, 11:05 AMSeattle Books ExaminerDanielle Dreger-Babbitt

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Salinger in 1951

Yesterday J. D. Salinger celebrated his 90th birthday the same way he's been celebrating since the 1960's: in seclusion.  Salinger has spent the last 50 years living in the quiet town of Cornish, New Hampshire.  He went into hiding at the peak of his fame, shortly after Franny and Zooey, Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters, and Seymour:  An Introduction. 

Salinger burst onto the literary scene in 1951 with The Catcher in the Rye, a coming of age novel about Holden Caulfield which became a cult classic and a fixture in every high school English class.  Nine Stories was published two years later.  He published his series of stories about the Glass family in the 1960's.  The final installment was the short story "Hapworth 16, 1924," which took up most of the June 19th, 1965 issue of the New Yorker.

Since then Salinger has virtually dropped off the map.  The author hasn't given an interview since the 1970's and not even his neighbors will talk.  Literary paparazzi and fans have pretty much given up looking for him since there hasn't been a sighting in decades.  That doesn't keep fans and critics from speculating about his life.  Some camps are convinced he continues to write, but then burns everything he finishes.  Other camps are convinced there are volumes of books waiting to be published in his home.  One can only hope that if this is true they will eventually be published.  In the meantime we can enjoy Salinger's literary genius.  If you're looking to start the new year with a good book, stop by your public library or bookstore and pick up a copy of one of Salinger's classic novels.