Catcher's keeper

By Johannah Davies Spero

Subjects: Catcher in the rye (Salinger, J.D.), Fiction, Holden Caulfield (Fictitious character)

Description: What if Holden Caulfield were around when John Lennon was shot? In 1980, John Lennon was killed by Mark David Chapman, who believed he was Holden Caulfield, narrator of the classic The Catcher in the Rye. After the shooting, Chapman remained on the scene calmly reading the book, which he later offered to police as "his statement." Catcher's Keeper asks the question, "What if Holden could have met Chapman, learned of his plan, and tried to prevent the assassination?"