J. D. Salinger Book summary

Jerome David “J.D.” Salinger was born in New York, into an upper-middle class family living on the esteemed Park Avenue. As a child, he attended public and private schools, but ended up graduating from Valley Forge Military Academy in 1936. Throughout these years, he enjoyed acting and writing fiction. He attended college sporadically, but one of the most significant events that occurred during this period was when, at age 20, Salinger sold his first story to a magazine editor.  

Salinger served in the military during WW II, even landing on Utah Beach during the infamous invasion of Normandy in 1944. During his time in the service, he carried a typewriter with him, and his work was frequently published in high profile magazines such as Saturday Evening Post and Cosmopolitan.  

Over the course of his career, he wrote many books. The name “Holden Caulfield” is used in a number of them, although the character name has no connection from book to book. “The Catcher in the Rye” is by far Salinger's most well-known work.  

Salinger married twice, and had two children with his second wife. Both marriages ended in divorce. He passed away in 2010, at age 91.