Catcher in the Rye: Number 4 book with a Psycho Fan Base

Check out "Kids in the Class" the first scene in RIP JD to see our take on the reader and their serial killer impulses from Catcher. Check out all five books that Cracked featured. http://www.cracked.com/article_18568_the-5-greatest-books-with-psychotic-fan-bases.html
The Classic Book

It's doubtful that, by telling the story of a whiny 17-year-old reminiscing on things that happened to him when he was a whiny 16-year-old, J.D. Salinger intended to give sweaty man-birth to a new gospel. It was just a story, and a rather simple one at that: It's a few days in the unremarkable life of Holden Caulfield, a teenager who pretty much hates everything (like every teenager) except children (like those creepy camp counselors).


Camp counselors ruin everything.

The Offenders

Apparently Holden's self-centered whining makes people want to kill celebrities. And not in a small scale, "fuck those guys" kind of way. No, in a "call the national guard, everybody is dead oh god they're all dead" kind of way.

Mark David Chapman shot John Lennon five times outside the Dakota apartment building in New York, claiming Catcher in the Rye was his inspiration. After committing the crime, Chapman even pulled out the book and started reading while still steps away from the murder scene. He signed, "This is my statement, Holden Caulfield" on the inside cover. So he either the chubby adult murderer thought he was Holden, or he thought Holden was real and could absorb all knowledge imprinted upon his book. When both options for your mental state are that crazy, it doesn't even matter which one was the case; doctors just diagnose you with "clinical craziness."

Robert John Bardo stalked a lengthy list of actresses before murdering Rebecca Schaeffer in 1989, also while carrying a copy of the book. A copy was also found in the possession of John Hinckley, Jr., the attempted assassin of Ronald Reagan. And those are just the celebrities; you know, the important people. The novel has been linked to a number of lower-profile murders over the years since its release.

Why the Bullshit Interpretation is Exactly That

It's been speculated that Chapman killed John Lennon in order to preserve his innocence--which is odd considering Lennon was like 40 years old at the time. Not exactly an age of wide-eyed wonder, 40. If you see a 40 year-old man riding a big wheel and asking why the sky is blue, you don't shoot him to preserve innocence, you ask around to find his caretaker and make sure his helmet is on tight.

But even if Lennon was about to enter puberty at the age of 41, the book doesn't support that action: Holden, while initially wanting to protect children, realizes that he's no role model, and they're all better off left alone anyway. Sure, some of 'em will fall off that cliff, but how else are kids gonna learn not to play in rye?