Born on January 1st, 1919, J.D. Salinger was one of the most influential authors of the 20th-century despite his secluded lifestyle and limited number of works. Being his landmark novel, The Catcher in the Rye redefined american literature post-WWII (biography.com). Publication of this novel brought Salinger to literary fame. He then turned his back on success and admiration to live a secluded life and only wrote for himself. Salinger had a battle both with the media and also an inner battle to find faith. Salinger was the youngest of two children born to Sol and Miriam Salinger. Sol Salinger was the son of a rabbi who ran a thriving import business, and his wife being Scottish (biography.com). At the time mixed marriages were looked down upon and very rare. Mariam’s non-jewish background was hidden so well that Salinger did not learn of his mother roots until after his bar mitzvah at age 14. Biography.com writes “Salinger had a battle both with the media and also an inner battle to find faith (biography.com).” After flunking out of the McBurney School near his …show more content…
His military career was short, only serving from 1942-44. He found himself at Utah Beach in France during the Normandy Invasion to be apart of the action at the Battle of the Bulge. During this time Salinger continued to write and began creating a new novel whose main character was a deeply unsatisfied young man named Holden Caulfield. Leaving the war Salinger was faced with some trauma. He was hospitalized after suffering nervous breakdowns. The details surrounding his hospital stay are clouded with mystery, but it is clear that while under care he met a woman named Sylvia. She was German and possibly a former Nazi. The two married for a short 8 months. He married for a second time to Claire Douglas. The couple was together for a little over a decade and had two children together, Margaret and