J.D. Salinger fans have three new stories available to read, but the late author would likely disapprove, The Hollywood Reporter said.

The stories - "The Ocean Full of Bowling Balls," "Birthday Boy" and "Paula" - were never published, but this week they popped up on file sharing sites such as Imgur. They had previously only been available to read at academic institutions.

It is not known who uploaded the stories, which are included in a 41-page album called "Three Stories," but experts say they are legitimate. Salinger scholar Kenneth Slawenski told Buzzfeed the stories were indeed Salinger originals, while Los Angeles Times book critic David L. Ulin confirmed that two of the stories were legit, though he hadn't read "The Ocean Full of Bowling Balls," and couldn't confirm one way or the other.

"The Ocean Full of Bowling Balls" was previously only available at Princeton, to be read under supervision. A spokesperson for the university theorized the unauthorized copy uploaded online had been written out longhand from the copy in its reading room. Others wondered if the stories came from an item listed on Ebay, which claimed to include the three unpublished stories.

Salinger, best known for his 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye, was incredibly protective of his work. He died in 2010 at the age of 91. A documentary on the author from Shane Salerno, Salinger, premiered at Telluride in September.