Hack Behind "Catcher" Flap

JUNE 10--The anonymous author of the purported sequel to 'The Catcher in the Rye,' which has triggered a lawsuit by J.D. Salinger, is a Swedish man whose previous published works include 'The Macho Man's (Bad) Joke Book,' 'The Erotic A-Z,' and a volume listing the 100 best heavy metal albums. Fredrik Colting, 32, acknowledged in an interview this week that he wrote the book '60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye,' which Salinger has branded a 'rip-off pure and simple' and triggered the reclusive 90-year-old author to file a federal copyright lawsuit. In a June 5 U.S. District Court order signed by Judge Deborah Batts, Colting is identified as 'Fredrik Colting writing under the pseudonym John David California,' or J.D. California. A copy of the Batts order can be found here. Colting told TSG that, along with a partner, he has produced a variety of humor or 'quirk' titles, but that '60 Years Later' was his 'first published novel.' Colting, pictured at left, denied that the book was a 'Catcher' sequel and said he was surprised that Salinger filed a copyright claim: 'I'm Swedish, we don't sue people here.' Pending a June 17 court hearing, Colting, who runs Nicotext, a small Sweden-based publishing company, has agreed not to distribute '60 Years Later' in the United States. Additionally, since the book recently went on sale in England, Colting agreed to ask Amazon.com and another online retailer to not ship the book to U.S. customers. A purported photo of 'California' appeared last month in England's Daily Telegraph, but the picture was actually of actor Gustav Roth, a friend of Colting. 'It was a bit tricky of us but we did it without any bad intentions,' Colting wrote in an e-mail. 'I mean, the whole point of a pseudonym is it being a secret.' (3 pages)