Simon & Schuster will publish The Private War of J.D. Salinger by David Shields and Shane Salerno in September, an oral biography of the great author that is guarded by “elaborate security.”
Salerno directed a documentary about the author that will air on American Masters in January 2014. The publisher negotiated the deal with Salerno and senior editor Jofie Ferrari-Adler will edit. Both publisher Jonathan Karp and Ferrari-Adler had sought to acquire the book for a few years.
Here’s more about the book, from the release: “The project has been the subject of much speculation since a 2010 Newsweek story, ‘Salinger Like You’ve Never Seen Him,‘ about the work-in-progress. Entertainment Weekly reported on the elaborate security surrounding the project … Salerno has been interviewing colleagues and intimates of Salinger since 2004. Since then, he and co-author David Shields have been shaping the interviews into an oral biography, which will be accompanied by never-before-seen photos of Salinger.”
Editor’s Note: The original version of this post incorrectly stated the name of the PBS series that will air the documentary.