Both an important piece of American literature and a classic coming-of-age story, The Catcher in the Rye follows Holden Caulfield as he wanders about New York City after getting kicked out of yet another prep school. Many critics and readers have agreed that you either "are a Holden, know a Holden, or are a Holden" which holds true. If you do however identify with him, you will understand the overlying melancholy tune of growing up yet craving those now distant, nostalgic memories of childhood. The vague affliction of wanting to keep everything as it used to be and not wanting to admit the change that has happened over the past few years. It is not the plot that creates the richness of the text but the feelings you put into the book as you are reading it either at midnight because you couldn't put it down or on the fire escape, looking down at the busy streets below, listening to an Erik Satie Gymnopédie.