Catcher in the Rye

While rushing to the Borders book store to buy a gift card for my bro-in-law (don't ask my why my hubby isn't doing this, esp. since George is HIS bro and I thought the adults weren't going to exchange gifts anymore...long story) we passed a big stand honoring JD Salinger and, of course, Catcher in the Rye.

Surprisingly, my daughter hadn't read this yet, even tho she's in AP Honors Lit, so I plunked down the $6.99 for the paperback and gave it to her.

"Trust me, you'll like this..it's sarcastic."

The first sentence had her, so now she's busy plowing through the literary version of Rebel Without a Cause.

And rereading it myself quickly, I was surprised at how good it was. Even tho my first read of the book was in my 20s, I realize now, JD had figured out how teenagers or almost teenagers talk - which I think explains much as to why the book has endured so well, whether it's on the must-read lit list or not.

For those you that have forgotten the first sentence, which hooked Jennifer, here it is-

"If you really want to hear about, 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 type of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth."


And the guy at the bookstore says that JD has many more books that haven't been published yet, so maybe J and I will get to read them for the first time together.