J. D. Salinger

JD Salinger, A Life Raised High by the American writer Kenneth Slawenski, is the first major biography on Salinger from a UK based publisher.Slawenski is a world-renowned expert on Salinger - he has run the Dead Caulfields website for more than 10 years, widely thought of as the most authoritative Salinger site. He has devoted the last seven years to researching and writing the book.Until now, little has been known of Salinger. Slawenski, finally, provides a detailed but highly readable account of the famously reclusive (his last interview was nearly 30 years ago) author. He conducted over 60 interviews and trawled libraries for letters, birth certificates, marriage licences and work records. The result is a definitive biography, 150,000 words long, looking both at Salinger's work in forensic detail, but also his family background and personal life.Salinger's Catcher in the Rye has sold more than 65 million copies and, today, still sells 250,000 a year. It will sell many more over the next few months after the author's death at the age of 91. (From the publisher)