The Catcher in the Rye

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception 

This Day in History: On this day in 1951, J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye was published. The novel, about a troubled 16-year-old named Holden Caulfield, exemplified common feelings of teenage angst and a resistance to growing up. The Catcher in the Rye became one of the most important English novels of the 20th century.

Watch this PBS NewsHour piece about J.D. Salinger's lasting influence on American literature: http://to.pbs.org/18ldXPZ

Photo: The Catcher in the Rye. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1951 (Library of Congress)