In Cold Fear: The Catcher in the Rye Censorship Controversies and Postwar American Character

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In Cold Fear examines the censorship controversies over J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye as a cultural debate occurring across America, from 1954 to the present day. Catcher presents a narrative in which adolescent embrace of American ideals of individualism and egalitarianism lead to criticism and rejection of dominant postwar social practices -- a narrative as threatening to some adults as it is heartening to others. Attempts to remove Catcher from high schools as an "un-American" text have generated continuous and extensive controversy, distinguishing it as one of the most frequently taught postwar novels -- and the most frequently censored.