Jerome David Salinger, American novelist, was born in 1919 in New York. He has grown up in trader’s family. He has studied at universities in New York and Columbia, where he has taken a course in short story writing. He has published short stories in various magazines including the Saturday Evening Post. During World War II. he has served in the U. S. infantry on the western group of armies in Europe. After the war he has started writing literature, mainly psychological novels and tales, in which he dedicates his attention to children’s and youngsters’ problems. Major success came with the novel The Catcher in the Rye, which was written in 1951. The success of this novel really surprised him.
Nowadays he lives alone in simple house in New Hampshire and he refuses any interviews and publicity.

The Catcher in the Rye novel is divided into 26 short parts. Author used here very vivid spoken language with huge amount of slang words and not rarely also vulgarisms, what is typical for thousands of young Americans. The story is told in I-narration.
The title of the book is perceived as motto of the novel, while the rye-field is symbol of America in the past, when it wasn’t destroyed by factories and desire of money.

„- Poznáš tú pesničku Keď raz človek niekde v žite chytí človeka?
- To má byť Keď raz človek niekde v žite stretne človeka. To je báseň. povedala Phoebe.
- Proste ja si v jednom kuse predstavujem, ako sa davy malých deciek hrajú na takmom velikánskom žitnom poli. Tisíce malých deciek, a široko-ďaleko ani jediného dospeláka, myslím teda okrem mňa. A ja Ti stojím na kraji nejakej strašnej priepasti. A vieš, čo musím robiť? Musím chytiť každého, kto sa priblíži k tej priepasti. Rozumieš, ak uteká a nedáva pozor, kam uteká, ja musím odniekiaľ vyliezť a chytiť ho. Toto by som robil od rána do večera. Chytal by som tie decká v žite. Viem, že je to bláznovstvo, ale je to jediná vec, ktorú by som fakt rád robil.“

The psychological novel The Catcher in the Rye tells story about one young, 16 years old boy Holden Caulfield, son of solvent parents. Parents wanted him to study the best schools, but it wasn’t purpose of his youth and life.
Holden was kicked out of the third school in order. As he was studying at residential school, he packed all his things up and decided to go home. It was few days before Christmas.