• American Literature
• Novels

• Type: Novel
• Length: 214 pages

Unusually brilliant novel - Nash K Burger, The New York Times, 16 July 1951

The Catcher in the Rye is a 1951 novel by American author J D Salinger. The protagonist, Holden Caulfield, is a 16-year-old-boy with school troubles, who finds he has a few days to spend on his own in New York City. Although pretty tame by today's standards, the novel has been banned for many reasons, including: blasphemy, being part of a communist plot, sexual references and vulgar language. - AsNotedIn

IF YOU REALLY WANT TO HEAR about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them. They're quite touchy about anything like that, especially my father. They're nice and all – I'm not saying that – but they're also touchy as hell. Besides, I'm not going to tell you my whole goddam autobiography or anything.

• Theme Group: Banned Books
• Theme Group: Cult Classic
• Theme Group: Literary New York, NY

People

• Ring Lardner, My favorite author is my brother D B and my next favorite is Ring Lardner.

Places

• American Museum of Natural History, New York City Even though it was Sunday and Phoebe wouldn't be there with her class or anything, and even though it was so damp and lousy out, I walked all the way through the park over to the Museum of Natural History.
• Central Park, NYC, Uptown You ever pass by the lagoon in Central Park? Down by Central Park South?
• Grand Central Terminal, New York City So what I did, I told the driver to take me to Grand Central Station.
• Greenwich Village, Ernie's is this night club in Greenwich Village that my brother DB used to go to frequently before he went out to Hollywood and prostituted himself.
• Manhattan NYC, New York City New York's terrible when somebody laughs on the street very late at night. You can hear it for miles.
• Midtown Center, NYC, So it wasn't too bad walking on Fifth Avenue. It was fairly Christmasy.
• Murray Hill, NYC, IN CASE you don't live in New York, the Wicker Bar (fictional) is in this sort of swanky hotel, the Seton Hotel (real, but now closed, the Seton was located at 144 East 40th Street).
• Radio City Music Hall, New York City I had quite a bit of time to kill till ten o'clock, so what I did, I went to the movies at Radio City.
• Rockefeller Center, New York City Let's go ice-skating at Radio City!
• Samuel J Friedman Theatre, New York City I told her to meet me under the clock at the Biltmore at two o'clock, and not to be late, because the show probably started at two-thirty.
• The Met Fifth Avenue, NYC, New York City Meet me at the Museum of art near the door at quarter past 12 if you can and I will give you your Christmas dough back.
• Upper East Side, Phoebe Caulfield. She lives on Seventy-first Street.

Food

• Martini Cocktail
• Scotch Whisky Liquor