Would Holden Caulfield Be on Facebook?

Checking my Facebook page, I came across a link to a posting on the Barnes & Noble blog Unabashedly Bookish. The writer notes that some students reading The Catcher in the Rye today say that the book's protagonist is just a whiny rich kid, who maybe should shut up and take his Prozac. The piece goes on to pose a question as to whether Holden Caulfield would be involved in social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter if he was a teenager today.

As Catcher is on Merrick Library's list of Ten Books to Read before You Die, we'd also like to know what you think about this question. Comments welcome.

J. D. Salinger Tries to Block the Publication of a Book

Many people know of J. D. Salinger's passion for privacy. The author, who lives in Cornish, New Hampshire and is now 90 years old, has not had a new story published or given an interview in decades. Salinger is protective of his short stories and his one novel, Catcher in the Rye, which made our list of 10 Books to Read before You Die. Few of his stories have made it to the big screen, and you will not find recorded book editions of Salinger's works.

In the 1980s Salinger fought the publication of a book In Search of J. D. Salinger by Ian Hamilton, which quoted extensively letters Salinger had written over the years. Salinger won that suit, and the book was later published without the quotes from his letters. Now, Salinger is fighting the publication of a novel by John David California called 60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye. In this book an elderly Holden Caufield-like character named Mr. C. escapes from a nursing home and roams the streets of New York in a story reminiscent of Catcher.

To read further about this dispute check this article from the New York Times and another piece from Publisher's Weekly.