Reportedly three unpublished stories by J.D. Salinger have found their way online. According to CNN, the stories have been spotted on numerous sites like Imgur and MediaFire. The 41-page book is called "Three Stories" and includes "Paula," "Birthday Boy" and "The Ocean Full of Blowing Balls."
The latter is rumored to be a prequel to Salinger's best-seller "The Catcher in the Rye." There is a ton of mystery surrounding how the short stories found their way on the Internet. Until now, "The Ocean Full of Blowing Balls" was only found in the Firestone Library at Princeton University and "Paula," and "Birthday Boy" were only available to researchers at the University of Texas.
According to the New York Daily News, one theory is that the stories were published by a leaker who bought the illegally produced book of stories in September on eBay. The stories sold for $109.23. Some people doubt if the stories are actually by the author but Los Angeles Times critic David L. Ulin thinks the short stories are legit.
"I've never read 'The Ocean Full of Blowing Balls.' It's part of a collection of Salinger material at the Princeton University library and available only to scholars who are supervised as they read," he said. "I have read the other two stories, however, at the University of Texas' Ransom Center, and the versions of them in 'Three Stories' are the real deal."
Salinger scholar Kenneth Slawenski also believes the leaked stories are real works by the author telling BuzzFeed in an email "While I do quibble with the ethics (or lack of ethics) in posting the Salinger stories, they look to be true transcripts of the originals and match my own copies."
Salinger died in 2012 in his New Hampshire home at the age of 91.
