At the end of the book Holden reveals that he is writing this from California, where his brother D.B., writes for Hollywood. .
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J.D. Salinger wrote The Catcher in the Rye in 1951 after writing numerous short stories and essays for magazines. The Catcher in the Rye was Salinger's first and only novel, though he did not stop writing after the publishing of this book. The events in The Catcher in the Rye are similar to the events in Salinger's live, such that he was frequently changing prep schools, and that he attended but never graduated from Columbia College. He refers to a young man that Holden knew from Columbia, hence the connection. Salinger also writes about the creative writing class that Holden takes and excels in, Salinger also took and excelled in a creative writing class at Columbia, which is when he fully devoted his time to writing. .
When the book appeared to the world in 1951, it was considered by many to be offensive due to it's harsh and blunt usage of profane language and the way that Salinger describes the male mind in reference to sex. Even though it was banned in some communities, other embraced the book as a version of expression that was formerly unknown. The way that Salinger describes the anti-social attitude of teens in the 50's and early 60's was accurate in that they no long wanted to remove their individuality and become part of "society." Instead the teens wanted to remain themselves and the example that Salinger provided in Holden was exactly what the youth were looking for. Though it did not describe a specific person, it did not need to. Salinger depicted the era of the 50's correctly with the freedom that Holden yearned for and the need to be who he was, and not to be conditioned by the older teachers of the prep schools. .
Salinger might not have had the specific purpose of leading the youth in their rebellion of the system in mind when he wrote this novel.
