 Salinger was raised in Manhattan and began writing short stories while in secondary school . Several were published in Story magazine in the early 1940s before he began serving in World War II . In 1948 , his critically acclaimed story " A Perfect Day for Bananafish " appeared in The New Yorker magazine , which became home to much of his later work . In 1951 , his novel The Catcher in the Rye was an immediate popular success . His depiction of adolescent alienation and loss of innocence in the protagonist Holden Caulfield was influential , especially among adolescent readers . The novel remains widely read and controversial , selling around 250 @,@ 000 copies a year . 
