Seven literary anti-heroes who expose the dark side of NYC

A.F. Brady is a writer, psychotherapist and mental health counsellor. Her latest novel is Once a Liar.

One of the author's favorite literary anti-heroes who expose the reality of how New York City privilege and excess can lead to anything but happiness, as shared at CrimeReads:

The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger (1951)

Holden Caulfield, one of the most controversial characters in literature, at once hated and revered, seems unable to find connection and satisfaction in any of his social encounters. He arrives back in New York after his expulsion from the prestigious and exclusive Pencey Prep in Pennsylvania. Depressed and chronically disappointed, feeling as though everyone except for him is a phony, Caulfield wishes to eventually become what he describes as “the catcher in the rye.” A person whose job it is to ensure that children playing in rye fields do not accidentally fall from the cliff at the edge of the rye fields. He sees it as saving children from losing their innocence, while Holden Caulfield himself is adrift in losing his own.

Read about another entry on the list.

The Catcher In The Rye appears on Liz Phair's ten desert island books list, Brian Boone's list of five great novels that will probably never be made into movies, Natalie Zutter's list of nine classic YA books ripe for some creative genderbending of the main characters, Lance Rubin's top ten list of books with a funny first-person narrator, Andy Griffiths's list of five books that changed him, Chris Pavone's list of five books that changed him, Gabe Habash's list of the 10 most notorious parts of famous books, Robert McCrum's list of the 10 best books with teenage narrators, Antoine Wilson's list of the 10 best narrators in literature, A.E. Hotchner's list of five favorite coming-of-age tales, Jay McInerney's list of five essential New York novels, Woody Allen's top five books list, Patrick Ness's top 10 list of "unsuitable" books for teenagers, David Ulin's six favorite books list, Nicholas Royle's list of the top ten writers on the telephone, TIME magazine's list of the top ten books you were forced to read in school, Tony Parsons' list of the top ten troubled males in fiction, 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