shopping cart
Powell's 2010 Puddly Awards
Call us: 800-878-7323 HELP
McAfee SECURE helps keep you safe from identity theft, credit card fraud, spyware, spam, viruses and online scams.
Book News, Guests | December 14, 2009

Amy Gray: IMG How to Be a Vampire

4 comments By Amy Gray

Oh, hi. I'm Amy Gray. I like smoking, carbs, and words. I live in the (currently) sleek humidity of Melbourne, Australia. When not lying... Continue »
  1. $10.49 Sale Hardcover add to wish list

    How to Be a Vampire: A Fangs-On Guide for the Newly Undead

    Amy Gray

The Catcher in the Rye

by J D Salinger

The Catcher in the Rye Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Ever since it was first published in 1951, this novel has been the coming-of-age story against which all others are judged. Read and cherished by generations, the story of Holden Caulfield is truly one of America's literary treasures.

Review:

"Repetitive, indecent, often very funny, it is wonderfully sustained by the author, who achieves all those ancient effects to be got from a hero who is in some ways inferior, and in some ways superior, to the reader....Why, then, with all this to admire, do I find something phoney in the book itself?....[T]he adult view of adolescence, insinuated by skillful faking, is agreeable to predictable public taste....[It] is what the consumer needs....The boy's attitudes to religion, authority, art, sex and so on are what smart people would like other people to have, but cannot have themselves, because of their superior understanding." Frank Kermode, Review from Spectator, 05/30/1958

Synopsis:

Holden, knowing he is to be expelled from school, decides to leave early. He spends three days in New York City and tells the story of what he did and suffered there.
back to top

What Our Readers Are Saying

Add a comment for a chance to win!
Average customer rating based on 14 comments:
Be Holden, January 1, 2010 (view all comments by Be Holden)
I decided to go back and reread some of the books I was "forced" to read in high school those many years ago. I had a copy of J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye" sitting on a shelf, and decided to start in. I was mesmerized by the writing style, and especially sucked into Holden's world.

I don't remember being this engrossed those many years ago, but I was now that I have a little more wisdom under my teeth.

On completing the story, I found that I identified with Holden much more at my age now than I did as a young "know-it-all" at the ripe old age of 16.

"The Catcher in the Rye" is now one of my all time favorite books, and I look forward to visiting again with Holden about every ten years to see his perspective on life once again.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
report this comment
Sid Campo, November 4, 2009 (view all comments by Sid Campo)
I finally got to reading this waste of time after "having" to read it in high school. It was BY FAR the WORST book that I have ever read. JD Salinger is the worst writer of all time. I have read books by total amateurs that are light years ahead of this piece of excrement. The book was a total pain in the neck to read and had no literal value whatsoever. I detested this book. The Catcher in the Rye is not even worthy of being used to start a fire in your chimney... It's just a phony and pretentious book that people like to pretend that they adored...
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(5 of 7 readers found this comment helpful)
report this comment
sanfranwitch, October 14, 2009 (view all comments by sanfranwitch)
I can understand why others might have liked this novel. I understand that it started a whole new style of writing. However, I found it dull and highly predictable. I could not like any of the characters or be drawn into the main characters story, I just didn't care what happened to him. A sign of a good book in my opinion is one that can get the reader to care about a character no matter if it is hate or like.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
report this comment
View all 14 comments
back to top

Product Details

ISBN:
9780316769488
Author:
Salinger, J. D.
Publisher:
Little Brown and Company
Author:
Salinger, J. D.
Location:
Boston
Subject:
General
Subject:
Fiction
Subject:
Classics
Subject:
Novels and novellas
Subject:
American fiction (fictional works by one author)
Subject:
New York
Subject:
Salinger, j. d. (jerome david), 1919-
Subject:
Runaway teenagers
Subject:
Caulfield, Holden
Subject:
Bildungsromane.
Subject:
New York (N.Y.) Fiction.
Edition Description:
1st LB Books mass market paperback ed.
Series Volume:
v. 17S1E
Publication Date:
January 1991
Binding:
Mass Market Paperbound
Language:
English
Pages:
224
Dimensions:
6.78x4.34x.60 in. .25 lbs.
back to top

Other books you might like

  1. $8.95 Used Trade Paper add to wish list

    To Kill a Mockingbird

    Harper Lee
  2. $5.50 Used Mass Market add to wish list

    Lord of the Flies

    William Golding
  3. $4.95 Used Mass Market add to wish list

    Slaughterhouse-Five

    Kurt Vonnegut
  4. $3.95 Used Pamphlet add to wish list

    Please Don't Kill the Freshman

    Zoe Trope
  5. $10.50 Used Trade Paper add to wish list

    Catch-22

    Joseph Heller
  6. $2.95 Used Trade Paper add to wish list

    Great Gatsby

    F Scott Fitzgerald
back to top

Related Aisles

  • back to top

Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and eBooks — here at Powells.com.