It's history. It's poetry.

When I was 15, I read Catcher in the Rye for the first time. I picked it for a book report for my sophomore English class . My teacher was worried about me checking with my parents before I read it, which made me want to read it more.

It was nice to read a novel with a protagonist that spoke, felt, and acted like the kids I knew. Holden Caulfield made me laugh, but the story also made me very sad. I think that's why I loved it so much. The world felt authentic and the writing was accessible. It was unlike the things we were reading in school.

I've been a Salinger fan ever since. In the wake of Salinger's recent death, I give you the opening to the novel and hope that it will spark some interest in you.   

"If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth..."