J.D. Salinger Sues Over Sequel, ‘a Rip-off, Pure and Simple’
Holden Caufield says in the teenage classic The Catcher in the Rye that he would love to call his favorite authors for a chat—people like Isak Dinesen or maybe Ring Lardner.
The reclusive author of the novel, J.D. Salinger, doesn’t share those good feelings for the writer of a book that bills itself as a sequel. Salinger has filed suit in Manhattan federal court to block publication of the book, 60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye, that is written by an author identified as J.D. California, Reuters reports.
The suit claims the new book infringes Salinger’s copyright on his novel and its protagonist, Holden Caufield, the New York Daily News reports. The book “is a rip-off, pure and simple,” the suit says.
The J.D. in the defendant author’s name stands for John David, and his book features a 76-year-old man who wanders the streets of New York after escaping from a nursing home, the New York Times reports, citing an author interview in the Telegraph. California later told the Telegraph that J.D. California is a pen name.
California told the Telegraph his book is “a story about growing old and old age and finding yourself in the world.”
