In Which Commerce Trumps Speech

In a victory for the reclusive wacko and bestselling author J.D. Salinger, a federal judge has indefinitely banned publication in the U.S. of a new book by a Swedish author that contains a 76-year-old version of Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of The Catcher in the Rye. The book has been published in Britain.

Lawyers for Salinger contended that the new work -- 60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye by Fredrik Colting, writing under the pen name John David California -- was derivative of Catcher and Holden Caulfield, and infringed on Salinger's copyright.

60 Years Later centers on a 76-year-old "Mr. C," the creation of a writer named Mr. Salinger. Although the name Holden Caulfield does not appear in the book, Mr. C is clearly Holden, one of the best-known adolescent figures in American fiction.

I have followed the case closely and reluctantly disagree with the verdict. Copyright must be respected, but 60 Years Later seems to be more of an homage.

As an avid reader from an early age, Catcher was one of the first books that would color my world view. This classic of teenage angst hit me like a freight train and wherever I have lived over the years, I always make sure that the thin Signet paperback edition that I bought with money from my paper route at age 12 and read twice through -- as well as several more times over the years -- is on my bookshelf.