Reader's Guide to J. D. Salinger

Surveys and discusses the entire body of Salinger's work and presents extensive bibliographical information. Few contemporary writers are as enigmatic as J. D. Salinger. Though he shuns publicity, his reclusive habits paradoxically attract the attention of the media. He is best known as the author of The Catcher in the Rye (1951), and his novel continues to be read and studied by secondary school students, undergraduates, and scholars some 50 years after its publication. But he also wrote numerous shorter works, some of which are only now beginning to receive scholarly attention. This reference overviews the entire range of his writings. Since Salinger's life figures prominently in his works, an introductory essay considers autobiographical elements in his writings and foregrounds the chapters that follow. Each of these later chapters examines one of his major works or a collection of related writings. Included are discussions of such topics as the critical reception, themes, narrative structure and point of view, characterization and style, settings and symbols, and interpretations of his texts. Chapters close with lists of works for further reading, and the volume concludes with several appendices and extensive primary and secondary bibliographies.