The Year That Changed Everything (Book Review)

My Salinger Year - Joanna Rakoff B

Published June 2014

Truth be told, I didn't really know what My Salinger Year was about prior to  purchasing it. I loved the title,  liked the cover and noticed it was getting good reviews. I thought (or maybe hoped) it was about a tortured writer living a Salinger-like year in seclusion- reading, writing and maybe even shacking up with a young lover. After the first few pages I wasn't sure if I was feelin' it. I liked Rakoff right away, but I was afraid her story was going to be pedestrian and predictable- she gets a job at "The Agency," gets discovered, and meets J.D. Salinger from whom she would learn some big life/writing lesson. However, Rakoff's story proved to be more vital and more heartfelt than I first thought. My Salinger Year is quietly charming and poignant. It is a memoir about life, about books and how each influences the other. It is a slow burn with a lasting effect.

Want to know more? Check out this youtube video about My Salinger Year courtesy of Knopf Doubleday https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOprjlRCZB4