The Author of the Catcher in the Rye is JD Stalinger. The Catcher in the Rye is the story of teenager, Holden Caulfield's, last few days before his Christmas vacation. During these days, Holden leaves Pencey Prep, a boys' school he's been kicked out of, and takes off for a few nights alone in New York City. Holden tells the story from a mental facility where he's recovering from the stress of the experiences he retells.

Holden's story begins at Pencey, which he despises for its prevailing "phoniness." Holden finds a lot of people and attitudes phony. It's the day of the big Pencey football game, something that Holden has no interest in. Holden decides to take a walk his history teachers house, old Mr. Spencer. Later he hangs around with a dull guy named Ackley and later gets beat up by his own roommate, a guy named Stradlater. The idea of Stradlater taking one of Holden's old friends, Jane Gallagher, out on a date, and the thought of Stradlater making the moves on his innocent friend makes Holden very mad. After the fight, Holden decides to get up and leave Pencey immediately. He finishes packing and leaves campus in the middle of the night.

A train takes Holden to New York City, where his family has lived all his life. Here, he checks into the Edmont Hotel, a place where he finds several adventures including an evening of dancing with three dull girls and a encounter with a prostitute. When Holden gets the prostitute he only talks to her and nothing else because he was feeling depressed and lonely, but he still pays her for her time, it's apparently not enough. Then Holden meets Maurice, the hotel's elevator man/pimp.

These days holden spent in the city are greatly characterized by drunkenness and loneliness. Later he meets up with an old acquaintance named Carl Luce and has a date with an off-and-on girlfriend, Sally Hayes, but both experiences leave him more miserable than before. Finally, Holden sneaks into his parents' apartment to visit his kid sister Phoebe, who's about the only person he seems to be able to communicate with. After this, Holden feels a little better, and he heads off to the apartment of his ex-English teacher, Mr. Antolini. The comfort Holden hopes to find there is upset when he wakes up in the middle of the night to find Mr. Antolini petting his head in a way that seems "perverty."

After this,his distress with the phoniness and stupidity of the world focuses as he spends his last afternoon wandering around the city. What bothers him is that the world seems to have no sanctuary from the phony or perverse in it anymore. This becomes all the more real for Holden as he wanders around his little sister's school building and keeps finding swear words scribbled on the walls. Holden begins to envision himself as a guardian of children, someone who will protect their innocence. This hope is crystallized in a vision of himself as the catcher in the rye.

            Though Holden tells his little sister he's going to move out West, he doesn't end up doing it. Instead, after a little fight with Phoebe, Holden ends up accompanying her to the park and watching as she rides the merry-go-round, stretching from her wooden horse to reach a prized brass ring. As he watches with fear and joy, Holden realizes that there can be no catcher, that kids have to develop in the harsh world on their own.