 In the 1970s , several U.S. high school teachers who assigned the book were fired or forced to resign . A 1979 study of censorship noted that The Catcher in the Rye " had the dubious distinction of being at once the most frequently censored book across the nation and the second @-@ most frequently taught novel in public high schools " ( after John Steinbeck 's Of Mice and Men ) . The book remains widely read ; in 2004 , the novel was selling about 250 @,@ 000 copies per year , " with total worldwide sales over 10 million copies " . 
