“My Salinger Year” by Joanna Rakoff – The End of an Era, the Passing of the Torch

Virtually every writer out there is going to have a different story to tell about what got him or her started down the path, and what finally gave them the push to take it to the next level.

Admittedly, some of these stories are going to be a bit more banal than others, but there is certainly no shortage of extraordinary ones, such as that of Joanna Rakoff, at least if it was all as detailed in My Salinger Year.

In that autobiographical effort, Joanna Rakoff recounts her life at the end of the 1990s in a New York that was still very strongly-geared towards literature. More precisely, she discusses the time she spent acting as J.D. Salinger's assistant, all the times she spent with him, and the places such a prestigious post in life took her.

A big part of the book is devoted to not necessarily Salinger himself, but the people he contributed to shaping, his fans. You see, Rakoff strayed from the beaten path and decided to actually start replying to the innumerable fan mails Salinger received on a daily basis, pretending to be his voice. It is within that process that her metamorphosis began, her self-realization as a writer.

As far as the content of the book itself goes, I have to admit that it ended up being more insightful and entertaining than I had expected. Apart from the numerous first-hand glimpses we get into Salinger's life, thoughts, mannerisms and peculiarities, the exploration of the people who surrounded him is equally fascinating.

Though we shouldn't seek to completely define ourselves through the opinions of others, somebody whose fame reaches Salinger's level cannot hope to completely escape that fate. He impacted the lives of so many people that on some level, he became a part of them, and they of him; we get to know the man better through the perceptions others had of him.

The style is very light, bright and dynamic, being perfect for the atmosphere Rakoff was going for, attempting to convey the free-spirited open-mindedness which seemed to have reigned back in those days.

We get a very uplifting and inspiring painting of New York back in those days from this book, the kind of painting that has the power to make you nostalgic for something you have never actually lived yourself. The path walked by Rakoff is certainly a singular, inspiring and interesting one, deserving to be shared with the world.

All things taken into consideration, My Salinger Year is recommended not only to fans of Salinger or those curious about him, but also to those who are simply yearning to discover about people and the peculiar fates which behold them.

Rakoff is, in her own right, a fantastic writer with a very attractive and often relatable outlook on life. If you don't mind slower-paced books that don't really have a concrete plot or point of intrigue, then I wholeheartedly suggest you check this autobiography out.

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Joanna Rakoff Personal site Joanna Rakoff is an American writer who only recently burst onto the literary scene, but has already been awarded the Goldberg Prize for Jewish Fiction by Emerging Writers for her first novel, A Fortunate Age. In addition, she has also received the Elle Reader's Prize, was the New York Times Editors' Choice as well as a San Francisco Chronicle Bestseller.