Vocalist entertaining a Latin author (8)
I believe the answer is:
salinger
'author' is the definition.
(JD Salinger)
'vocalist entertaining a latin' is the wordplay.
'vocalist' becomes 'singer' (synonyms).
'entertaining' indicates putting letters inside.
'latin' becomes 'l'.
'a'+'l'='al'
'singer' going around 'al' is 'SALINGER'.
(Other definitions for salinger that I've seen before include "'JD..., author of The Catcher in the Rye (8)'" , "Jerome D ........ wrote ` ` The Catcher in the Rye' '" , "US novelist" , "J. D. ..., author of Catcher in the Rye" , "US author of The Catcher in the Rye" .)