Jerome David Salinger was born on January 1, 1919 in New York City to a Jewish importer of kosher cheese and his Scotch-Irish wife. He had one sibling, an older sister named Doris. The Salingers lived in a wealthy Park Avenue apartment in Manhattan. Growing up, J.D. (also called Sonny, and today called Jerry by friends and family) was distant with his father. Being half Jewish (his mother was Catholic) was a source of much conflict in J.D., so much in fact that he did not even attend his father's funeral. The conflict was more of a social conflict than a religious one, however. Salinger was very fond of his mother, but his father had always put a lot of pressure on him to succeed in school and get a steady job, preferably in the meat and cheese importing business. After viewing a meat packing plant, Salinger decided he did not want to have anything to do with the business, and this trauma is most likely also a reason for his vegetarianism as an adult. Salinger grew up wealthy, but because of the pressure his dad placed on him to land a high paying job as an adult, he resented it, and finally decided to become a writer. .
Jerome received high marks in grade school, but once he entered prep school, he was dropped out for failing. He briefly attended Valley Forge Military Academy in Pennsylvania (1934-1936), which was the source for many of his critical and cynical descriptions of Pency Prep in Catcher in the Rye. (He later admitted to having fond feelings for the school, however.) This was where J.D. developed his sarcastic wit, and started writing. He spent five months in Europe in 1937, and returned to attend Ursinus College and New York University in 1938.
While attending college, J.D. fell in love with Oona O'Neill, writing her love letters almost daily. Many say Salinger's talent for writing charming and witty love letters could sway any girl, but this was proven wrong when he attempted to write letters for a friend in order to help him charm a girl and she still denied him.
J.D. ... As recorded in J.D.'... As of 1966, Catcher in the Rye had sold over 1.5 million copies in the United States (Vertical/Biography 7). As of 1966, Franny and Zooey shot to second place on the best -seller list (Vertical/Biography 7). ... J.D. ...
The Catcher in the Rye was a historical fiction based partially on the life and times of the author, J.D. Salinger. Though it was not a true biography of his life, there are similarities that lead to the conclusion that Salinger had a specific purpose of self-expression when he created the concept for this book, even if the specific details aren't that of himself or an actual person. ... J.D. ... While in school Salinger flunked out and never graduated college, just like Holden, and as an adult, Salinger sold out to Hollywood by letting them make his material into a movie, which wen...
Salinger has written the novel in such a way for a purpose: Much of what has happened in Salinger's life is discretely inserted in the novel using Holden's character. ... The life of J.D Salinger is connected to facts from the story in various ways. ... Salinger attended three different colleges. ... (Salinger, J.D., Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2002). ... He wrote an interesting and vigorous novel and was still able to place a biography of himself in the story without readers having to know that it all concluded to what his life was like. ...
Vera Brittain's reading entitled "Testament of Youth" is also a biography regarding her "War Generation" era of schooling. Manning Clarke's reading "The Ordeal" is also to be examined, along with Charles Dickens" play entitled "Book the First Sowing" and J.D Salinger's reading called "Teddy." ... Manning Clarke sees his start to education as an "ordeal" and so titles his biography regarding his schooling life. ... J.D. Salinger's reading entitled "Teddy" explores the very educated, intelligent and different mind of a 10-year-old boy named Ted...