'Catcher in the Rye' author J.D. Salinger dies

J.D. Salinger, the author of "Catcher in the Rye" and maybe the literary world's most famous recluse, has died.

Salinger, who turned 91 on New Year's Day, died Wednesday (Jan. 27) of natural causes, the AP reports. He passed away at his home in New Hampshire, where he had spent decades in isolation, fending off curious fans, movie producers and others.

"Catcher in the Rye," Salinger's first novel, was published in 1951 to wide acclaim and has been in circulation ever since. It's become a lit-class staple for generations of high school and college students who dissect antihero Holden Caulfield's ranting against "phonies" and his desire to escape all their "stupid useless conversations."

His other well-known works include "Franny and Zooey" and the collection "Nine Stories." His final published story, "Hapworth 16, 1928," ran in The New Yorker in 1965, and although in the late '90s there were rumblings that an expanded version of the story would be published as a book, it never came to pass. He reportedly had as many as 15 finished manuscripts at his home, but never sought to publish any of them.

Salinger had all but retreated from the world by the time "Hapworth" was published and did his best to keep things that way for the rest of his life. In 1987 he sued to block publication of an unauthorized biography that quoted from his unpublished letters. The case made its way to the Supreme Court, which sided with Salinger (a modified version of the book, by Ian Hamilton, was released in 1988). He also sued to block publication of an unauthorized "Catcher" sequel last year.

"Catcher in the Rye" also had a tragic association with the death of John Lennon. Mark David Chapman, who shot Lennon in 1980, claimed to be heavily influenced by the book, telling police afterward that "I'm sure the large part of me is Holden Caulfield."

Readers got a glimpse into his life in 1998 via Joyce Maynard's memoir "At Home in the World," which detailed an affair she had with Salinger in the '70s. It was not a flattering portrait, and neither was his daughter Margaret's 2000 book "Dreamcatcher."

Salinger rejected numerous offers to sell the stage or movie rights to "Catcher in the Rye," turning down everyone from Elia Kazan to Steven Spielberg.

Who's seeking out their copy of "Catcher" or "Nine Stories" this weekend? 

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