Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
OK, OK, we know this is a well-known fact, but still: Mark David Chapman, the man who shot John Lennon, was carrying a copy of The Catcher in the Rye when he was arrested. He said in his police statement that the larger, presumably better part of his personality was Holden Caulfield, while the smaller part of his personality was Satan. (Source)
On that note, John Hinckley Jr., the guy who tried to kill Ronald Reagan in 1981, was also a Caulfield fan. (Source)
Everyone wants to make a movie out of The Catcher in the Rye, but Salinger had a bad experience with one of his former short stories ("Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut," if anyone cares, which everyone should, since Nine Stories is awesome) and refused to let any of his works be made into film after that. Salinger thought about making it into a play, where he himself would play Caulfield. No one else could, seemed to be the conclusion. (Source)
Some think the 2002 film Igby Goes Down ripped off Catcher. (Source)
The titles of both The Catcher in the Rye and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck come from works by the same Scottish poet: Robert Burns. (Source)
Somehow, The Catcher in the Rye has been one of the most frequently taught books and one of the most banned. (Source)
The Soho Weekly News once tried to claim that Thomas Pynchon, author of Gravity's Rainbow, was J.D. Salinger. As in, they're the same person. But then Pynchon was all, "No," so the theory went the way of Beanie Babies and The Spice Girls. (Source)
Salinger hated that his book was banned: he said, “Some of my best friends are children. In fact, all my best friends are children. It’s almost unbearable for me to realize that my book will be kept on a shelf out of their reach.” Hm, think he and his main character have anything in common? (source)
Mark David Chapman, age 25, shot Beatles member John Lennon in 1980. Why? Well, because he was a nutjob. But his explanation was—The Catcher in the Rye made him do it. (source)
Wonder what happened to Holden when he grew up? Hope you read Swedish. Frederik Colting wrote a follow-up to Salinger’s novel, imagining Holden 60 years down the road. Salinger’s lawyers managed to block its publication in the U.S. until Salinger’s copyright expires. (source)