Post #1: American Author Proposal

For my American Author paper I am analyzing the books and writing style of JD Salinger. I read The Catcher in the Rye during the summer before my junior year and was captivated by it. I think the thing I liked the most about it at first was its conversationalist tone. I also grew much attached to the Character, Holden Caulfield, who possessed certain characteristics in his personality that I can relate to personally. I just recently re-read Catcher, and I’m am planning to finish Nine Stories and have finished Raise the High Roof Beam, Carpenters.
 Salinger is defined as an American Author because not only was he born and raised in Manhattan, New York, but his writing was very influential to American Society. Salinger was influenced by American Author Ernest Hemingway (Whom he incidently met on the beaches of Normandy durring his service in WWII.) Salinger has Influenced other modern authors such as Hunter S. Thomson and Phillip Roth. 
 The Book Catcher, banned in many schools in the 1950s for its controversy, is also ironically the second most taught book in schools (next to Of Mice and Men.) Critics find his writing to be “Vulgar,” “Full of Amateur Cussing,” and above all, “Fatalistic.” However I believe his writing a dresses a raw, realistic and above all beautiful part of life. Salinger’s writing is also very influential on modern pop culture. Many Bands such as Radiohead and the Beatles reference catcher in the rye. The Blockbuster film “Conspiracy” centers a character that is obsessed with Catcher and must buy a copy whenever he is out in public. Mark David Chapman claimed his reason for assassinating John Lennon of the Beatles was attributed to his influence the character Holden in Catcher in the Rye. Chapman is even cited as acting out certain scenes from the book in New York (The place where Catcer takes place) before committing his assassination.
 I have settled on a theme to center my paper around. The most common theme in his writing deals with the confusing and alienating transition between childhood and adulthood. The main character of Raise the high roof beam, Seymour, draws a strong parallel with Holden Caufield. Both Characters find comfort in child-like settings that never change, and both struggle with grasping adult-like concepts. I am excited to write about the mysterious Salinger and his work which I find to be captivating.