J. D. Salinger ─ The Last Interview and Other Conversations

From the legendarily reclusive 20th century master of American literature comes an extraordinary collection of interviews.

Holden Caulfield might have one of the most recognizable voices in American literature, but, as readers, we've heard precious little from his legendary creator, J. D. Salinger.

J. D. Salinger: The Last Interview collects the rare, revealing, and essential public records of the elusive giant--from his very first interview with Book of the Month Club magazine, to his last (a deposition in his suit against his biographer Ian Hamilton), and the little-known conversations in between. It offers insights into Salinger's early days as a writer, (when he'd had only one story published), his attempts to kill a book of pirated stories, and the late "comeback" that he may or may not have even wanted.

Amusing, enlightening, and expertly selected, these documents reveal a man fiercely resistant to the spotlight, but powerless to escape its glare.

Edited and with an introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winning journailst David Streitfeld.

J.D. Salinger (b. 1928, Chicago, IL; d. 2010, Cornish, NH) was one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. His landmark novel The Catcher in the Rye is widely-established as a defining novel of post-WWII America and continues to sell more than 250,000 copies a year. He is also the author of the collections Nine Stories, Franny and Zooey, and Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour.? Though he continued to write up until his death in 2010, Salinger was fiercely reclusive and stopped publishing his work in 1965; very little of his work survives.

Editor David Streitfeld is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has covered books, business, and technology for the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and is currently a columnist for the New York Times, covering technology.