"The Ocean Full of Bowling Balls" is an unpublished work by J. D. Salinger.[1] It is about the death of Kenneth Caulfield, who later became Allie in The Catcher in the Rye.
The story was initially going to appear in Harper's Bazaar,[2] but Salinger withdrew the story before publication. This story is available only in the Princeton library.[3] Those who wish to read it must check in with two forms of ID with the librarian, and are then supervised while they read the story behind the closed doors of a special reading room. As per the terms of Salinger's donation of the manuscript to Princeton, it cannot be published until 50 years after his death; thus, the earliest it can be published is January 27, 2060. (Princeton Library guide pg. 2 line 5).
According to Jack Sublette in his 1984 annotated bibliography of J.D. Salinger, "Collier's" fiction editor, Knox Burger, stated in 1948 that "Ocean Full of Bowling Balls" "contains the greatest letter home from camp ever composed by man or boy.".[4] The letter referred to is sent from Holden Caufield (later the protagonist of the Catcher in the Rye) to his younger brother in this story, Kenneth.