(jerome david)

Literary Masterpieces is one series of the trio that makes up the Gale Study Guides to Great Literature (the others are Literary Topics and Literary Masters). Each Literary Masterpieces volume chooses a book by one of the authors covered in Literary Masters and offers a discussion of themes, characters, comparisons with social events of the era when the book was written and a critical analysis. The Catcher in the Rye was published in 1951 when J. D. Salinger had already achieved commercial success and critical acclaim as a short-story writer. The ultimate troubled teenage story is told by seventeen-year-old Holden Caulfield who has just flunked out of his third prep school. This novel spells out everything that has ever troubled a teenager about the adult world during any period in history---hypocrisy, insincerity, lack of compassion, lack of respect for everything, and the importance of material possessions over people.

Literary Masters is one series of the trio that makes up the Gale Study Guides to Great Literature (the others are Literary Masterpieces and Literary Topics). Each Literary Masters volume introduces a significant author and covers basic biographical information. J. D. Salinger, born in New York City, was a gifted actor in high school but was also a writer. Unsuccessful with a college curriculum, he focused on writing and after taking a creative writing course at Columbia University, he began to sell stories to magazines. Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of his novel, The Catcher in the Rye (1951), first makes his appearance in a 1941 story, "Slight Rebellion Off Madison", in The New Yorker Magazine.

Margaret A. Salinger writes about her life with her reclusive father, writer J.D. Salinger.

Presents a critical examination and interpretation of the writings of twentieth-century American author J. D. Salinger. Includes achronology, bibliography, and index.

Critical study of J.D. Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye" with discussion of the work's influence, historical context, and critical reception.

Describes the life of twentieth-century American author J. D. Salinger; profiles "The Catcher in the Rye," covering its plot, characters, structure, themes, motifs and symbols, and criticism; discusses several of his short stories; and includes a chronology, bibliography, filmography, and list of further resources.

Contains thirteen critical essays on J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye," and includes a chronology, a bibliography, and an introduction by critic Harold Bloom.

Contains twelve essays in which various authors provide critical analyses of the works of American author J.D. Salinger, and includes an introduction by Harold Bloom, a chronology, and a bibliography.

Provides a detailed introduction to writing an essay about literature and discusses sample topics based on twelve of author J.D. Salinger's works.