Reclusive JD Salinger sues over 'Catcher in the Rye' sequel

THE RECLUSIVE writer JD Salinger has been goaded into another round of litigation by a mystery first-time novelist who has brought…

THE RECLUSIVE writer JD Salinger has been goaded into another round of litigation by a mystery first-time novelist who has brought the story of Holden Caulfield into the present age in alleged breach of Salinger’s copyright.

Salinger, who has spent the past 34 years writing books which he has never allowed to be published and suing anyone who has dared to borrow from his work, has lodged the lawsuit in a New York federal court. He is suing the author, publisher and distributor of a forthcoming novel called 60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye, which features a 76-year-old "Mr C".

The character is clearly based on Caulfield, one of the most famous personifications in American literature, who narrates Salinger's signature work, The Catcher in the Rye, at the age of 16. In Salinger's 1951 book, the character runs away from an elite prep school and spends a few days roaming around New York city.

In 60 Years Later, Mr C escapes a nursing home and once again roams Central Park and the Manhattan streets. In the legal action Salinger’s lawyers accuse the new unauthorised novel of being “a rip-off pure and simple”. It says Salinger “did not and would not approve of defendants’ use of his intellectual property”.

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The new book, which was due to be published in the UK this month but has been put on hold because of the lawsuit, has puzzling qualities that have led to speculation that it is an elaborate hoax. Its author is called JD California, which the lawsuit claims is a pseudonym, and he dedicates the book to Salinger whom he calls “the most terrific liar”.

The publisher is a newly formed UK firm called Windupbird Publishing. Fredrik Colting, a founder of the firm, insisted it was a "real book. It's not a joke". – ( Guardian service)