The one unavoidable thing I can say about this incredible
book is that it is one of the reasons I am still alive today.
As an angst-filled teen who was persecuted by
parents, neighbors, students, school officials,
and the church, I could not have felt more alone.
In the midst of my despair and disconnect, Salinger
gave me a voice and an outlet, and I was feverishly
drawn to every page.
It wasn't merely the familiarity of the depression and acting
out, or the outsider status, that spoke to me,
but the skewering honesty
of how lacking the greater societal model is.
That's what made me recognize I wasn't crazy;
life was hard, people were dishonest, and
things didn't make sense. It wasn't just my imagination.
