JD Salinger's books will go digital for first time, publisher says
Readers will finally be able to add another American classic to their digital bookshelves.
“The Catcher in the Rye,” along with J.D. Salinger’s three other works, will be made available as e-books on Tuesday, Salinger’s longtime publisher Little, Brown and Company said.
This will be the first time Salinger’s published works will be available in digital format.
His son, Matt Salinger, said the digital holdout ended because many readers use e-books exclusively and some people with disabilities can only use them.
"There were few things my father loved more than the full tactile experience of reading a printed book, but he may have loved his readers more — and not just the 'ideal private reader' he wrote about, but all his readers," said Salinger, who helps oversee his father's literary estate.
In addition to "The Catcher in the Rye," the e-books include "Nine Stories," ''Franny and Zooey," and "Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction."
Longtime J.D. Salinger publisher Little, Brown and Company said the entirety of Salinger’s published work, including “The Catcher and the Rye,” will be available as e-books beginning Tuesday. (AP Photo/Holly Ramer, File)
The electronic publication continues a yearlong centennial celebration of the author's birth and his contributions to literature.
Salinger, who died in 2010, lived a reclusive life in Cornish, New Hampshire, and rarely spoke to the media. He not only stopped releasing new work, but rejected any reissues or e-book editions.
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But things are changing. In addition to the e-books, there have been new covers and a boxed edition.
Matt Salinger also has said unpublished work by his late father will be coming out. But he said any publication of new works may be years away.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
