6/2/2009

in

Catcher in the Rye author, J.D. Salinger is suing an author who plans on publishing a sequel to the book.

Heather Dykstra

Unlike Jane Austen, who can't be around to fight off the droves of copycat authors who mooch off her story to write spin-offs and sequels, J.D. Salinger is still around to fight for his book's good name.  
  
The New York Times reported on Monday that the "Catcher in the Rye" author was filing a lawsuit against author John David California. California was intending to publish his version of a sequel to the novel, which is set 60 years later. He stated in an interview with The Telegraph that he thought his novel would act as "a tribute to the way Holden would have said it." Holden is the main character and narrator of "Catching in the Rye."  
  
Salinger and his lawyers don't seem to think so. "The sequel is not a parody and it does not comment upon or criticize the original. It is a rip-off pure and simple," they said.