"Catcher in the Rye" Author Files Injunction Against Sequel

On Monday, famed author J.D. Salinger filed an injunction against the publisher, author and distributor of the sequel to Salinger's classic, "The Catcher in the Rye."

According to an article on mediabistro's Web site, the sequel "60 Years Later Coming Through the Rye," was co-written by John David California and one of his publishers at Nicotext. The article continues to explain that a defense to Salinger's injunction could be that California and publishers were simply parodying Salinger's novel.

But in an AP article, Salinger's lawyer responds to that claim, "The Sequel is not a parody and it does not comment upon or criticize the original ... It is a ripoff pure and simple."

The sequel, which is dedicated to Salinger, features a 76-year-old "Mr. C" who all readers recognize as the aged misanthropic youth, Holden Caulfield. Mr. C escapes the nursing home and hits the streets of New York, which is similar to the plot of the original book -- minus the age and nursing home.

Salinger, a critically acclaimed American author, is known to be highly private of his personal life and also highly protective of his work. The AP article said that Salinger has filed injunctions and sued on four separate occasions (including the current injunction), and has turned down film rights requests from Harvey Weinstein and Steven Spielberg to make "The Catcher in the Rye" into movies.

And anyone who has read the book knows what that Holden would call anyone attempting to make money from the commercialization of the book would of course be -- phonies.