Catcher in the Rye Inspired Dog Names

If there’s one thing to be said about Catcher in the Rye, it’s that the book had a distinct air of openness, much of which can be attributed to Holden Caulfield’s brashness of youth. Along with the theme of preserving innocence, an idea of which many dog owners have come to know with their pet's personally, the book is able to speak to people of all generations and ages with its unabashed honesty. 

While the story itself worked wonders for many including Salinger himself, it stood as a bit of an outlier in his career and was a direct contrast to his personal life. Both J.D. Salinger and Holden Caulfield may have spilled their guts on those pages, but after the book made him a success, Salinger had difficulty existing in the limelight and much preferred being reclusive, removing himself from the public sphere as often as he could.

Despite the legal battle he entered with biographer Ian Hamilton and his struggles with the memoirs released about him, one by his ex-lover and one by his daughter, he did his absolute best to keep his personal life under wraps, making the details all that more desirable to the general public. And he seemed to do an admirable job of it. Until near the end of his life and even more so after his death, there were still unanswered questions that persisted, leaving even the most self-acclaimed “best informed” on his life without true clarity. It was this tendency that ended up wrapping him in a peculiar mystery.

For a good period of time, it was actually unknown whether or not Salinger owned a dog, and there was a considerable debate between two of the most prominent newspapers of decades past that quarreled over the idea, despite the fact that Time published a photograph of the author playing with what they labeled “the Salinger family dog” in the yard — and it stands as one of very few published regarding his personal life at the time. 

Years down the road, it was not only confirmed that Salinger did have a dog, but that he loved it dearly. Benny, a German schnauzer, was actually one of two living beings the acclaimed author felt closest to. It’s claimed that before his death, Salinger actually said the one two “people” who had ever truly known him were his son Matthew and his dog, Benny. It was a sentiment that rang through to dog-lovers worldwide, further cementing the legend as a misunderstood and kind-hearted introvert, alongside a genius writer.