J. D. Salinger

Jerome David Salinger was an American writer best known for his 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye, an immediate popular success whose depiction of adolescent alienation and loss of innocence proved widely influential, especially among young readers. He had earlier published stories in Story magazine before serving in the Second World War, and his acclaimed 1948 story A Perfect Day for Bananafish appeared in The New Yorker, which published much of his later work, including the short story collection Nine Stories (1953) and Franny and Zooey (1961). Following the success and scrutiny that came with Catcher, Salinger became increasingly reclusive, publishing his last work, the novella Hapworth 16, 1924, in 1965 and largely withdrawing from public life until his death in 2010.