Happy Birthday, J.D. Salinger

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J.D. Salinger was born on this day in 1919. Last year he celebrated his very last birthday; he died on the 27th of the month.

FB&C covered the story of Salinger's death from several angles -- on the blog, Jonathan Shipley gave us a round-up of obituaries, Steve Alburty offered a fine essay on privacy and the writer, and bookseller Brian Cassidy wrote about the market for signed Salinger material. In our February e-letter, Alistair Highet penned a literary epitaph in the form of pastiche.

Of course, Salinger has also turned up at auction this year. Sotheby's sold twelve of his letters to a college friend for $12,500. And the mainstream media buzzed when Salinger's toilet turned up on eBay last August with an asking price of $1 million (the listing has since been deleted).