On this date in 1951: Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger published

On July 16, 1951 The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger was published. After he finished the manuscript, Salinger sent a copy to Robert Giroux, who was then a young editor at Harcourt, Brace. Giroux thought the novel was brilliant and agreed to publish it. He showed Catcher in the Rye to his boss, Eugene Reynal, who didn't like it at all. Giroux described their meeting: 'Gene said, The kid is disturbed. I said, Well, that's all right. He is, but it's a great novel. He said, Well, I felt that I had to show it to the textbook department. The textbook department? He said, Well, it's about a kid in prep school isn't it? I'm waiting for their reply. I said, It doesn't matter what their reply is, Gene. We have a contract for the book. [...] The textbook people's report came back, and it said, This book is not for us, try Random House.' The whole situation upset Robert Giroux so much that he quit Harcourt, Brace, and got a job with Farrar, Straus, & Company — which is now known as Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

Salinger had to find a new publisher, and Little, Brown made him an offer. Salinger turned out to be a difficult author to work with. He wanted his friend Michael Mitchell to design the cover. He wanted the jacket redone because he thought his photograph on the back was too large. He told Little, Brown that they couldn't sent out any promotional copies because he didn't want any publicity. They eventually managed to convince Salinger to change his mind on most counts, but he wasn't happy about it.
Despite Salinger's hesitations about publicity, The Catcher in the Rye was a sensation. It became a best-seller almost immediately, reaching No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list after two weeks. It has sold more than 65 million copies.
The Catcher in the Rye begins: 'If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.'