Salinger documentary writer makes ultimate marketing stunt with posthumous publication claim
JD Salinger, the reclusive author who published little during his lifetime, is set to enjoy a posthumous creative resurgence thanks to a decision to publish five unfinished works by the author of The Catcher in the Rye.
A new documentary recounting the life of the reclusive writer claims that the works will be published in the coming years and feature the character of Holden Caulfield who appears as the main protagonist in his classic story.
In what must surely rank as the ultimate marketing stunt the claims were aired during an advance screening of the film, named simply Salinger, although the first clues to the works existence could be seen in a rare interview, /news/2012/01/26/top-tips-writers-jd-salinger-advice-beyond-grave">published exclusively by The Drum
In it Salinger outlined his top tips for writers to an 18 year old journalism student, Shirley Ardman – following a chance encounter in a New York hotel bar, which was conducted when Salinger was just 21 - even then painting a picture of an individual who was ‘already full of himself’... ten years before the publication of Catcher in the Rye.
Despite its historical nature the full piece carries surprising resonance for audiences today, with Salinger’s top tips for aspiring writers including; Don’t over write, Try to take some time away from Twitter, Ideas are only the beginning, Know your work inside out and Do things because you want to.
Shane Salerno, film writer for the recent dicumentary, said that Salinger left behind instructions to his estate to publish the works after his death with most of the material thought to have been penned in reclusive isolation at his New Hampshire home.
According to Salerno this schedule will see five titles released from 2015 through to 2020: A Counterintelligence Agent’s Diary about his time interrogating prisoners of war; A World War II Love Story based on his brief marriage to Sylvia, a suspected Nazi, after the war; A Religious Manual detailing his adherence to Advaita Vedanta Hinduism later in his life; and The Complete Chronicle of the Glass Family featuring five stories about Seymour Glass, a recurring character in other works.