Catcher in the Rye was substantially the most important book I've read in my life. It put in words the exact things I was feeling, and became a bible to me. As

Catcher in the Rye was substantially the most important book I've read in my life. It put in words the exact things I was feeling, and became a bible to me. As I read the book several times as I got older, I remembered how I felt about compromise as a teenager, and yet understood what the teacher was trying to tell Holden. Things aren't as cut-and-dry to an adult as they are to a 16 year old. That said, I believe this article is largely hogwash. Salinger wrote one phenomenal book. His other books, I felt, were boring and didn't have any of the same effects as Catcher in the Rye did. He's the literally equivalent of a one hit wonder. And there's nothing wrong with it. I won't ever do what he did. But to romanticize Salinger's life as having some greater caller or meeting is a bit ridiculous. He wrote one good book and that's it, and he was a bit of a kook. End of story.