Author sues over sequel to ‘Catcher in Rye’

Published 10:11 pm Monday, June 1, 2009

NEW YORK — J.D. Salinger, the 90-year-old creator of “The Catcher of the Rye,” is seeking an injunction against the writer, publishers and distributor of a spinoff of the author’s famous novel.

Lawyers for Salinger filed the lawsuit in federal court in Manhattan on Monday, seeking a recall of “60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye” by someone writing under the name John David California.

The lawsuit said the right to create a sequel to “The Catcher in the Rye” or to use the character Holden Caulfield belongs only to Salinger. The lawsuit says Salinger has “decidedly chosen not to exercise that right.”