After serving in World War II and suffering a nervous breakdown, J.D. Salinger published his novel The Catcher in the Rye in 1951, which was both critically and commercially successful. Some critics disapproved of the novel's portrayal of its protagonist Holden Caulfield and his dissatisfaction with society. Salinger struggled with relationships and privacy for the rest of his life, publishing no new works after 1965 but continuing to write each day until his death in 2010.

3. .

5. When Salinger returned to New York in 1946 he quickly set about resuming his life as a
writer and soon found his work published in his favorite magazine, The New Yorker. He
also continued to push on with the work on his novel. Finally, in 1951 The Catcher in the
Rye was published.
The book earned its share of positive reviews, but some critics weren't so kind. A few
saw Caulfield and his quest for something pure in an otherwise "phony" world as
promoting immoral views. He seemed unhinged, possibly crazy.
Not surprisingly, Catcher vaulted Salinger to a level of unrivaled literary fame.

6. HIS CAREER HAD STARTED TO TAKE OFF, BUT THEN, LIKE SO MANY YOUNG AMERICAN MEN AROUND THIS TIME, WORLD WAR II
INTERRUPTED HIS LIFE. FOLLOWING THE ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR ATTACK, SALINGER WAS DRAFTED INTO THE ARMY, WHICH
HE SERVED WITH FROM 1942-1944. HIS SHORT MILITARY CAREER SAW HIM LAND AT UTAH BEACH IN FRANCE DURING THE
NORMANDY INVASION AND BE A PART OF THE ACTION AT THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE.
DURING THIS TIME, HOWEVER, SALINGER CONTINUED TO WRITE, ASSEMBLING CHAPTERS FOR A NEW NOVEL WHOSE MAIN
CHARACTER WAS A DEEPLY UNSATISFIED YOUNG MAN NAMED HOLDEN CAULFIELD.
SALINGER, HOWEVER, DID NOT ESCAPE THE WAR WITHOUT SOME TRAUMA AND WHEN IT ENDED, HE WAS HOSPITALIZED AFTER
SUFFERING A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN. THE DETAILS ABOUT SALINGER'S STAY ARE SHROUDED IN SOME MYSTERY, BUT WHAT IS
CLEAR IS THAT WHILE UNDERGOING CARE HE MET A WOMAN NAMED SYLVIA, A GERMAN AND POSSIBLY A FORMER NAZI. THE
TWO MARRIED BUT THEIR UNION WAS A SHORT ONE, JUST EIGHT MONTHS. HE MARRIED A SECOND TIME IN 1955 TO CLAIRE
DOUGLAS, THE DAUGHTER OF A HIGH PROFILE BRITISH ART CRITIC, ROBERT LANGDON DOUGLAS. THE COUPLE WERE TOGETHER
FOR A LITTLE MORE THAN A DECADE AND HAD TWO CHILDREN TOGETHER, MARGARET AND MATTHEW.

7. Despite Salinger's best efforts, not all of his life remained
private. In 1966, Claire Douglas sued for divorce, reporting
that if the relationship continued it "would seriously inure her
health and endanger her reason."
Six years later Salinger found himself in another relationship,
this time with a college freshman named Joyce Maynard,
whose story, "An 18-Year-Old Looks Back on Life" had
appeared in The New York Times Magazine and caught the
interest of the older writer.
The two lived together in Cornish for 10 months before
Salinger kicked her out. In 1998 Maynard wrote about her
time with Salinger in a salacious memoir that painted a
controlling and obsessive portrait of her former lover. A year
later, Maynard auctioned off a series of letters Salinger had
written her while they were still together. The letters fetched
$156,500. The buyer, a computer programmer, later returned
them to Salinger as a gift.
In 2000, Salinger's daughter Margaret wrote an equally
negative account of her father that like Maynard's earlier
book was met with mixed reviews.
For Salinger other relationships followed his affair with
Maynard. For some time he dated the actress Ellen Joyce.
Later he married a young nurse named Colleen O'Neill. The
two were married up until his death on January 27, 2010 at
his home in Cornish.

10. With his daughter Margaret.

11. Despite the lack of published work over the last four decades of his life, Salinger
continued to write. Those who knew him said he worked everyday and speculation swirls
about the amount of work that he may have finished. One estimate claims that there may
be as many as 10 finished novels locked away in his house.

12. The End.