Who recommends it
- Ian DonaldInterview
This varies over the years. In addition to those I have already mentioned, I just recommended to my son The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks. It’s sort of Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger meets American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, both of which I also recommended to him.
- How Writing Can Change The WorldArticle
Salinger’s novel is a coming-of-age story about teenage angst and rebellion. It has been hugely popular with young adults since it was first published and continues to be one of the most commonly assigned books in high school English classes.
- Ten Times The Book Was Better Than The MovieArticle
The Catcher in the Rye is a novel that was published in 1951. The book tells the story of a teenager named Holden Caulfield who is kicked out of boarding school and goes on a journey around New York City. The book was later turned into a movie, which was released in 1991. The movie was a box office flop and received…
- Ashley Hickson-LovenceInterview
Quite late on I remember. Sixth form college probably, so aged 16/17. Reading The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan, Nineteen Eight-Four by George Orwell, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald – books that I felt I had to read if I wanted to study English at university.
- The Best Books on LeadershipReading list
This book is famous because it changed how we think about first-person narrators. Salinger announces in the first line that he wants you to throw out Dickens because Dickens is outdated. It’s true. We read Dickens to understand the perils of Victorian England. And we read Salinger to understand the perils of the…
- Rana FloridaInterview
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. I locked myself in my room away from my 5 siblings and raced through it in two days.
- Shane DikolliInterview
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. It helped me understand the importance of independence and curiosity. The brilliant storytelling is also full of inspiration.
- Marie D’AbreoInterview
Impossible to say really. Not everyone can read a book and get benefit from it. And it depends what you’re seeking at that moment: happiness, escape, enlightenment, education, fun…? Some people hate The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. That one stayed with me though. (In fact, I’m overdue for a re-read). It’s…
- Amy Andelson and Emily MeyerInterview
For as long as we can remember. But our friendship formed when we bonded over all the classic angsty adolescent books like Catcher In the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Maggie Cassidy by Jack Kerouac, and The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.
- The Best Classic Novels For BeginnersReading list
The odyssey of self-involved fifteen-year-old Holden Caulfield from private school expulsion to a nervous breakdown in New York is probably best read when you are a self-involved fifteen year old (as I was when I read it). The first person narrative perfectly captures the paradoxical nature of adolescence whilst…
- Alice PasquiniInterview
The ones I read went very well! There were often about traveling and unique families. On the Road by Jack Kerouac, The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, Journey to the End of the Night by Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Family Sayings by Natalia Ginzburg and Monsieur Malaussène by Daniel Pennac.
- Lawrence GrobelInterview
I think about The Hardy Boys by Franklin W. Dixon; The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger; Siddhartha by Herman Hesse; Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky; and Franz Kafka’s stories.
- Jen SinceroInterview
So many but I guess I’ll say The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. I not only related to Holden Caulfield as a kid (outsider, too tall, craving connection) but I loved his voice in the book. It inspired me to learn to write something that real, raw and funny. I’ve read it many times over the years and the writing…
- Benjamin MurphyInterview
I’d advise myself not to read The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger instead, it’s such an awful book with no redeeming features.
- Vilma GonzalezInterview
As you can tell, I’m really bad at answering questions where I have to pick one book for anything… but Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger had a pretty big impact. I read it several times in high school.
- Robin EisenbergInterview
Yes, so many! The books I tend to re-read are a mix of classics that are probably on a lot of people’s re-reading lists, and books that might not be universally appreciated but I love for nostalgic/personal reasons. Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is one of the classic ones. I didn’t read it as a kid, so I think…
- Tim AtkinInterview
- Susan BennettInterview
It would probably be either Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger in high school or In Cold Blood by Truman Capote in college. Both were incredible eye openers, in addition to being beautifully written.
- Yvonne ZemkeInterview
- Emma BennettInterview
This is probably an obvious choice, but I think I’d choose Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger.
- Jenna McCarthyInterview
Get used to rejection. It happens at every single step along the way. Agents will reject you; publishers will reject you; readers will reject you. And as painful as it is every time, it’s part of the process. When I’m feeling particularly annoyed by this I’ll go on Amazon and pick a favorite book at random—The Glass…
- Tim DraperInterview
Yes. My wife recommended two books, Dune by Frank Herbert and The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World by Michael Pollan. My Mother also recommended many classics to me along the way: Summer of ’42 by Herman Raucher, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, and many, many…
- B. DolanInterview
I associate Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger with my father, since it was the only book he ever admitted to reading and liking. I still have his copy of it, which I read every few years.
- Aaron PoochigianInterview
Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man has stayed with me since my teenage years. The books that were most influential on me, however, were Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye and Dante’s The Divine Comedy. I read the latter in an outdated translation full of archaic language. I loved it, even when I didn’t…
- Paul WilliamsInterview
I tend to read a number of books at once, and these are connected to what I am writing and teaching, so I am reading Stephen King’s Misery; Wifedom by Anna Funder; re-reading Lolita, Harry Potter, Catcher in the Rye.
- Naomi DuguidInterview
Not sure, perhaps Catcher in the Rye or Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger; or A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle; or another in the YA category, the fabulous trilogy by Philip Pullman called His Dark Materials.
Often recommended alongside
Crime and Punishment
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Great Gatsby
The Bell Jar
Lolita
Ulysses
Hamlet
The BibleMore books by J.D. Salinger our guests recommend
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