In response to Jessica M.'s (from Oxford, New Jersey) article, I couldn't disagree with your assessment of the masterpiece, The Catcher In The Rye.
According to Jessica "I don't think there's anything fascinating about a spoiled teenager who is rightfully kicked out of prep school and then wanders around New York City, depressed and childishly upset about everything." however, the book, which is intended to reach out to rebellious teens IS NOT glorifying Holden's general distain toward everything, but merely MAKING teens realize not to be like Holden. Hopefully, other people who read this book have properly understood Salinger's message. In the time the book was written, wearing a hat backwards was considered rebellious, let alone ordering a prostitute, getting drunk, and constant profanity. This book IS interesting because you see how society accepts such a person. Admittedly, Holden's attitude toward everything did bother me at first, but I realized this was Salinger's purpose. He DOESN'T want people to act this way, thus writing in an agitating monologue of an angry teen. Of course teens drink and use profane language but considering the time period, this (expulsion, and profanity) was like committing murder for adults. The Catcher In The Rye is a VERY interesting coming of age tale and I highly recommend it to anyone in the middle of growing up ( like myself) to learn how not to act. Salinger's writing is terrifically descriptive, especially when describing character Robert Ackley's hygiene.