Flavorwire

We’ve always known that J.D. Salinger didn’t want film adaptations made of his books. But now we (sort of) know why. In a 1953 letter to aspiring filmmaker Hubert Cornfield, in response to inquiry about Catcher in the Rye, Salinger wrote, ”I appreciate and respect your ardor, but for the present I see my novel as a novel and only as a novel.” The note is now up for sale at University Archives, for the low, low price of $22,500. We will say this: for a famously prickly and reclusive writer, it’s a very gracious rejection. Take a look after the jump.

[via @LettersofNote]