Specifically the brainwashed assassins were programmed with an urge to buy copies of the book. The CIA tracked purchases and used it to keep tabs on the assassins movements.
There were a few assassins/mass shooters who had a copy with them, if I recall. It became a weird coincidence, kind of like criminals with the middle of Wayne. I think Conspiracy Theory found a semi-plausible reason for having this happen, which would be far simpler today than it was then, and also coincidentally made fun of Catcher in the Rye - about the only people buying it are programmed to do so.
Conspiracy Theory (movie from the 90’s) explained it as a CIA trigger/tracking method.
Specifically the brainwashed assassins were programmed with an urge to buy copies of the book. The CIA tracked purchases and used it to keep tabs on the assassins movements.
It is kind of ludicrous, but not a bad movie.
There were a few assassins/mass shooters who had a copy with them, if I recall. It became a weird coincidence, kind of like criminals with the middle of Wayne. I think Conspiracy Theory found a semi-plausible reason for having this happen, which would be far simpler today than it was then, and also coincidentally made fun of Catcher in the Rye - about the only people buying it are programmed to do so.