A federal judge ruled in Salinger’s favour yesterday and the sequel to Catcher in the Rye has been halted before publication. So 60 Years Later Coming Through the Rye, by John David California ( real name Fredrik Colting) will not be going to press and Holden will not be resurrected and I for one am mighty glad about it.

The judge said that the new book borrowed extensively from J.D Salinger’s original, both substantively and stylistically.

While I feel rather sorry for California, it takes a hell of a lot of effort to write a novel whatever your inspiration, I’m glad that Salinger has yet again been able to protect his rightful intellectual property.

However, it seems that the ruling has no grounding here in the UK and that the book will be available to Britain – for the moment anyway.