Born in 1919 to a prosperous Manhattan family, Jerome David Salinger grew up in a New York City milieu. Salinger's upbringing was not unlike that of Holden Caulfield, the Glass children, and many other characters used in his stories. "Being a diligent student was never his first priority: after he flunked out of several prep schools, including the prestigious McBurney school, his parents sent him to Valley Forge Military Academy in Pennsylvania from which he graduated in 1936"("J.D. Salinger", Novels 117). While attending a Columbia University writing course, Salinger had his first piece of short fiction published in Story, an influential periodical founded by his instructor, Whit Burnett. Salinger's short fiction soon began appearing in Collier's, The Saturday Evening Post, Esquire, and other magazines catering to popular reading tastes. Salinger entered military service in 1942 and served until the end of World War II, participating in the Normandy campaign and the liberation of France. He continued to write and publish while in the Army, often carrying a portable typewriter with him in the back of his jeep. After returning to the States, Salinger's career as a writer of serious fiction took off. He broke into the New Yorker in 1946 with the story "Slight Rebellion Off Madison," which was later rewritten to become a part of The Catcher in the Rye. Salinger quickly became one of the top contributors to the prestigious magazine. After The Catcher in the Rye was published, however, Salinger found himself at the center of a storm of controversy. His novel was lauded by many, but condemned by others for its language and social criticism. As it began to find its way onto the recommended reading lists of educational institutions, it also became the target of numerous censorship campaigns. The publicity gradually forced Salinger into a state of isolation. The years passed, and his continuing work on the Glass famil...