JD Salinger Dead at 91

Remembering the writer, not the myth

(NEWSER) - The myth of JD Salinger the withdrawn man doesn't match Salinger the writer, Adam Gopnik writes. On the page, Salinger was charming, expansive, and relentlessly engaged with the world. "No American writer will ever have a more alert ear, a more attentive eye, or a more ardent heart," Gopnik writes in the New Yorker . "A self-enclosed writer doesn’t listen, and Salinger was a peerless listener: page after page of pure talk flowed out of him, moving and true and, above all, funny." More»

Author rumored to have kept stash of unpublished works

(NEWSER) - Fans who have long awaited Holden Caulfield's move from adolescence to retirement hope they'll soon be reading something new from JD Salinger. The author—whose last published book was in 1963—is widely believed to have kept a stack of finished, unpublished works in a safe in his New Hampshire home, AP reports. More»

Obituaries, tributes pouring in for late author

(NEWSER) - How to sum up the life of JD Salinger in a paragraph? Here's a sampling coming in from the wires:

• Kyle Anderson, MTV : He's "the reclusive genius who crafted one of the most iconic and important pieces of youth fiction."
• Charles McGrath, New York Times : "JD Salinger, who was thought at one time to be the most important American writer to emerge since World War II but who then turned his back on success and adulation, becoming the Garbo of letters, famous for not wanting to be famous, died Wednesday at his home in Cornish, N.H., where he had lived in seclusion for more than 50 years. He was 91."

Memorabilia dealer wants $1M, but bring your best offers

(NEWSER) - JD Salinger fans, rejoice. Or cringe in horror, more likely. For a mere $1 million, you can buy the late author's toilet on eBay, reports the Raleigh News and Observer . The commode was used by Salinger at his home in Cornish, NH, where he spent more than 50 years living just as privately as he could. We're sure he'd be thrilled with this auction. More»

He was a private man, but he also got around town

(NEWSER) - He may have been a hermit to the rest of the world, but JD Salinger's neighbors in Cornish, NH, know differently. He valued his privacy to be sure, but the man also got around. He liked the Dartmouth Bookstore in nearby Hanover, favored the Windsor Diner, and was a regular at the roast beef suppers at First Congregational Church, where you could usually find him seated next to the pie table. More»