Ancient recluse J.D. Salinger emerged from hiding yesterday (or his lawyer did, at least) to file a lawsuit seeking to block the publication of a book called 60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye, an unofficial sequel to Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye in which an elderly Holden Caulfield–like character escapes from a retirement home. According to the suit, “the sequel is not a parody and it does not comment upon or criticize the original … It is a ripoff pure and simple.†The book’s author, an American living in Sweden and using the pseudonym “John David California,†tells the AP that Salinger has control over characters’ names, but not his style. Also, he finds the lawsuit “a little bit insane†and we agree completely … as long as Mr. California’s real name is not McG.
Author J.D. Salinger Is Taking Another Fan to Court [AP via Gawker]