Norman Mailer said Salinger "was the greatest mind ever to stay in prep school" and almost the whole of his reputation is hinged to his 1951 book, The Catcher in the Rye, in which the main character, Holden Caulfield goes a.w.o.l. from his own prep school to prowl the streets of New York City. The Catcher is consistently ranked among our greatest post W.W. II novels and its legacy confounded the hermit-like Salinger who was constantly sought out by his many fans.
Although seldom seen or heard from for the better part of 50 years, both his daughter and his one-time lover Joyce Maynard claim that Salinger never stopped writing. In a 1974 interview the great author stated, “"There is a marvelous peace in not publishing.... I like to write. I love to write. But I write just for myself and my own pleasure."
