All this talk about J.D. Salinger of late and his lawsuit against a Swedish humor writer (pen name J.D. California) who has written a book about an elderly Holdon Caufield (Mr. C) has me really interested in reading the book if and when it ever gets published.
Just listen to this from the New York Times:
Lawyers for Fredrik Colting, the new author, filed a brief this week saying that the work is more complex than just a sequel, noting that Mr. Salinger himself is a character.
The new book, the brief said, ‘explores the famously reclusive Salinger’s efforts to control both his own persona and the persona of the character he created.’
It adds: ‘In order to regain control over his own life, which is drawing to a close, ‘Mr. Salinger’ tries repeatedly to kill off Mr. C by various means: a runaway truck; falling construction debris; a lunatic woman with a knife; suicide by drowning and suicide by pills.’
Sounds to me like a mix between Stranger Than Fiction, Groundhog Day and something either Charlie Kaufman or Woody Allen might take a stab at adapting for the big screen.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the legal battle and the subsequent flurry of publicity wasn’t part of the Swedish author’s plan all along to publicize his book. The lawsuit might even already be part of the story considering the above description of the book’s exploration of Salinger’s “efforts to control both his own persona and the persona of the character he created.”
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