The Catcher in the Rye Marks 75 Years With 80 Million Copies Sold
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jul 14
The Catcher in the Rye Marks 75 Years With 80 Million Copies Sold
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jul 14
Summary
July 16 marks the 75th anniversary of J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye,” which has sold more than 80 million copies worldwide.
80 million sales have come even as the novel faced repeated book bans and school-board challenges, while never going out of print.
Holden Caulfield’s attack on “phoniness,” set largely in New York, has kept the book culturally influential across generations and inspired artists from playwrights to rock bands.
The novel’s reach is also unusual for a literary classic that has never been adapted for film, despite attempts by directors including Billy Wilder and Steven Spielberg.