Top ten troubled males in fiction

Tony Parsons' new novel is Men From The Boys, the final installment of his Harry Silver trilogy, which began with Man and Boy that was then followed by Man and Wife.

For the Guardian he named his top ten troubled males in fiction.

One troubled male on the list:

Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in The Rye by JD Salinger

Holden is the original crazy, mixed-up kid and anyone who can recall the agonies and ecstasies and endless yearning of adolescence will see themselves in him. But you have to read him at 16. Come to Holden later, and it's like trying to hula-hoop for the first time when you are 40. You just can't get it.

Read about another entry on the list.

The Catcher In The Rye appears on Dan Rhodes' top ten list of short books and Sarah Ebner's top 25 list of boarding school books; it is one of Sophie Thompson's six best books. Upon rereading, the novel disappointed Khaled Hosseini, Mary Gordon, and Laura Lippman.

--Marshal Zeringue