The Catcher in the Rye is a written work.
Jerome David Salinger ( [ ˈsælᵻndʒər ] January 1 , 1919 January 27 , 2010 ) was an American writer who is known for his widely-read novel , The Catcher in the Rye . In 1951 , his novel The Catcher in the Rye was an immediate popular success . The Catcher in the Rye is a 1951 novel by J. D. Salinger . A controversial novel originally published for adults , it has since become popular with adolescent readers for its themes of teenage angst and alienation . The novel was included on Times 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels written since 1923 and it was named by Modern Library and its readers as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century .