As I noted on Read Street, the reclusive J.D. Salinger recently emerged from his self-imposed exile to try to stop publication of an unauthorized "sequel" to The Catcher in the Rye.
Don't expect to see the 90-year-old Salinger in a New York federal courtroom as the literary fight develops over 60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye, a book that has been published in Great Britain and is headed here. Years ago, Salinger battled an unauthorized biographer and the author of a fictitious interview, using lawyers as his proxy each time.
But in this lawsuit, Salinger argues that he has the exclusive rights to any sequel and to the character of Holden Caulfield, the angst-ridden prepster struggling to find meaning in the world. His attorneys have called 60 Years Later, whose central character is called simply Mr. C, "a ripoff, pure and simple," according to the Associated Press.
These days, it's a wonder there aren't more battles like this over Bella Swan, Robert Langdon, Kay Scarpetta or other well-known characters.
After all, our entertainment culture loves nothing more than a hit that can be extended with sequels, spinoffs and one-offs - not to mention tell-all books and ice shows. So what if few (any?) sequels live up to the original? There's money to be made, and some clever marketing can keep risk-averse consumers interested for at least two sequels.
For a little fun at last week's Book Expo America, Perseus Books showed how fast it could create a new book - fittingly, a collection of opening lines from proposed sequels. Anyone could suggest a line ("Call me, Ishmael" from Mobile Dick is one of my favorites), and a process that began with a Friday morning editorial meeting ended with a "launch party" the next afternoon.
If such a collection can be created in less than 36 hours, how long will it take for someone to write Twilite, a book about Ella and vampire Ned? Or Leonardo's Code, with Roberto Langdonelli?
And can any U.S. court hope to react in time? Already, 60 Years Later is available online, as well as in British stores. It might be too late to stop the damage to Salinger's - or Holden's - reputation.
