“If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like ….”

I don’t remember the exact age I was, but I’d never read anything quite like that before, and was absolutely stunned. I do remember exactly where I was when I first read it.

But I think my favorite part is after Holden makes a long speech to Phoebe, I think it’s when he explains his dream of catching the kids before they go off the cliff, and she just says something like, “Dad’s going to kill you.”

‘Franny and Zooey’ hit me just as hard, but that nailed-to-the-wall feeling came at the very end of that one.

Catcher is more than a little responsible for my love of coming of age stories, but from the day I read it, I’ve also been on the lookout for other great opening lines. One of my favorites is from “The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys,” the only novel by Chris Furhman, who died at a young age:

“By eighth grade, Jesus Christ had been bone meal and rumors for most of 1,974 years, but we were only thirteen. We were daredevils, gangsters. I had a girl’s name, Francis, and a hernia.”

Incidentally, there’s a very funny book called ‘King Dork’ whose protagonist has quite a bit of Holden in him, even as he rails against the “Cult of ‘Catcher.’” The cover design of the paperback edition I have is a defaced version of the classic maroon ‘Catcher’ cover.
It’s by a guy named Frank Portman, who also leads a band called The Mr. T Experience.

I really like those books — love ‘Altar Boys’ actually. But they obviously were not “The Catcher in the Rye.” What is?

I’ve re-read ‘Franny’ a couple of times over the past few years, but it’s been a very long time since I’ve re-read ‘Catcher’.

I guess it’s time.