The Catcher in the Rye is a novel by J.D. Salinger that was published in 1951. It is narrated by a young man named Holden Caulfield, who is undergoing treatment in a mental hospital or sanatorium. The events he narrates take place in the few days between the end of the fall school term and Christmas, when Holden is sixteen years old. The novel deals with themes of innocence, identity, belonging, loss, connection, sex, and depression. The main character, Holden Caulfield, has become an icon for teenage rebellion.

Holden wants to be the “catcher in the rye”—someone who saves children from falling off a cliff, which can be understood as a metaphor for entering adulthood. The novel takes the loss of innocence as its primary concern. Holden finds himself torn between childhood and adulthood and his desire to remain a part of the former. The protection of childhood innocence is also a main theme of the novel.

The novel has been controversial since its release in 1951 for its focus on adolescent emotions, the changing nature of contemporary life after the Second World War, and its unique depiction of an unlikeable, unreliable narrator. The novels reception was lukewarm at first, but it has since become an all-time classic in coming-of-age literature.