The Catcher in the Rye
American novelist, 1919–2010.
The Catcher in the Rye is a 1951 novel by J. D. Salinger. It was shortlisted for the National Book Award for Fiction in 1952.
On 10 of the 17 lists it was eligible for.
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At a glance
- Author
- J. D. Salinger
- First published
- 1951
- Length
- 198 pages (UK paperback)
- Awards
- National Book Award for Fiction shortlist, 1952
- Genre
- Literary fiction, Coming of age
Is The Catcher in the Rye worth reading?
10 of the 17 best-of lists it could have made include it, among them Readers' top 100 novels (The Guardian) and The Big Read top 100 (BBC).
| List | Place | Original |
|---|---|---|
| 100 Best Novels (board's list) (Modern Library, 1998) | No. 64 | See the list |
| 100 books of the century (Le Monde, 1999) | No. 88 | See the list |
| 100 novels everyone should read (The Telegraph, 2009) | No. 52 | See the list |
| All-Time 100 Novels (Time, 2005) | Listed | See the list |
| National Book Award for Fiction (winners and finalists) (National Book Foundation, 1952) | Shortlist | See the list |
| Readers' top 100 novels (The Guardian, 2026) | No. 37 | See the list |
| The 100 best novels written in English (The Guardian / Observer, 2015) | Listed | See the list |
| The 100 greatest novels of all time (The Observer, 2003) | Listed | See the list |
| The Big Read top 100 (BBC, 2003) | No. 15 | See the list |
| The Great American Read (PBS, 2018) | Listed | See the list |
Best edition of The Catcher in the Rye
The edition we link to is the Penguin paperback (2010), 198 pages.
- Publisher
- Penguin (paperback, 2010)
- Pages
- 198
- ISBN
- 9780241950432
How critics, prizes and readers rate The Catcher in the Rye
Critics and readers rate it about equally: it earned 52% on critics' lists and 52% on readers' and booksellers' lists, against 33% on prize lists.
Share of the available points it earned on each kind of list it was eligible for. How the scores work
Books like The Catcher in the Rye
If you liked The Catcher in the Rye, try To Kill a Mockingbird, Ulysses or The Magic Mountain.
