Posthumous J.D. Salinger Novels May Be On The Way, Biographers Claim

New books bearing the byline of author J.D. Salinger, who died in 2010, may be coming, according to David Shields and Shane Salerno, the writers of the forthcoming “Salinger” biography. They wrote in their bio that the estate of the famously reclusive Salinger plans to release numerous books between 2015 and 2020. This is big news for fans and scholars of the author, who ceased publishing new material in the 1960s.

Citing an advance copy of the biography to be released Sept. 3, the Associated Press reported one of the posthumous books would center on “The Catcher in the Rye” protagonist Holden Caulfield and his family later in his life. The book is based in part on “The Last and Best of the Peter Pans,” an unpublished story that Salinger reportedly wrote before “The Catcher in the Rye” was released.

Another book, called “The Family Glass,” would collect several unpublished stories about the fictional Glass family, which Salinger wrote about in “Franny and Zooey” and several short stories. Other books in the pipeline purportedly include fictionalized accounts of Salinger’s time during World War II and what the New York Times described as “a story-filled ‘manual’ of the Vedanta religious philosophy, with which Mr. Salinger was deeply involved.”

While “Salinger” claims the news of the supposedly coming Salinger publications is “documented and verified,” no publisher has been identified as of yet. Throughout his public career, Salinger published his novels exclusively with Little, Brown and Co. However, the publishing house has not commented on the prospect of any future Salinger books.

Beginning in the 1950s, Salinger increasingly withdrew from public life, publishing his final story “Hapworth 16, 1924” in a 1965 issue of the New Yorker. By the 1970s, Salinger practically lived as a recluse, although family, friends and neighbors all maintain that he continued to write daily until his death in January 2010.

Salinger reportedly wanted to write for himself alone, as opposed to a vast audience. In a rare 1974 interview, Salinger claimed, “There is a marvelous peace in not publishing.” By 1980, Salinger had stopped giving interviews completely. He lived in relative seclusion in Cornish, N.H., until his death.

The biography “Salinger” will be accompanied by a documentary film of the same name set to premiere on Public Broadcasting Service stations Sept. 6. Watch the trailer below: