Salinger 'sequel' publication blocked
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Published: July 2, 2009
NEW YORK — A federal judge ruled Wednesday that a Swedish author cannot publish in the United States a book he wrote that was advertised as a sequel to J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher In The Rye."
U.S. District Judge Deborah Batts issued her ruling in Manhattan after hearing arguments in a lawsuit brought by the 90-year-old reclusive author against the publishers of "60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye."
Batts said Swedish author Fredrik Colting's claim that he wrote the new book to critically examine Salinger's most famous character, Holden Caulfield, was "problematic and lacking in credibility."
She also rejected arguments that a character in Colting's book that was meant to represent Caulfield 60 years later was a parody.
The book was scheduled to be published in the United States late this summer, but the publication was challenged by lawyers for Salinger, of Cornish, N.H., who did not attend arguments in the case last month.
The ruling by Batts was a temporary order meant to remain in place until the full facts of the case could be aired at a later trial. She said that Salinger was likely to succeed on the merits of his lawsuit and that he would face irreparable harm if the new book was allowed to be published in the United States.
— Staff and wire reports
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