I wonder if Salinger was 'knew' (if that's the word) that the Brits (or some of them) referred to the "Second" World War as "the phoney [British spelling preferred] war". Since he came to be quite fond of the epithet. I forget who first used it to refer to the 'second world war'. I know Flanagan does in "My Crazy Life" (as he performed in "The little dog laughed", a revue). In a message dated 9/23/2013 McEvoy writes: "[I]t might interest (JLS at least) to guess which of the following expresses Popper's view: (a) Catcher is an incisive portrait of the adolescent mindset." I commented, to the effect that at least one teenager, when reading "Catcher in the Rye", as a teen, found it unrealistic. The source being: http://c ommunity.nytimes.com/rate-review/movies.nytimes.com/movie/461367/Salinger/overview?permid=1 The poster titles the message: "hated Catcher as a teen, loved it as an adult" -- and goes: "I suppose you had to be way more precocious than I was to appreciate "Catcher" as a teen." "I remember I was jarred by the constant use of the phrase "kills me."" "I couldn't imagine a kid taking a cab, or walking around in "the city," in Central Park, no less, alone." "It wasn't something we kids said in the 70s, and it sounded way too violent." "I did not "get" Holden at all." "I felt I was reading a book written by an adult for other adults who wanted to remember being teenagers or something." "Once I'd been around the block a few times, and also once I'd read "Banana Fish," and "Raise High the Roof Beams, Carpenters," though, I did appreciate it. So, I really don't understand how kids love this book. Maybe they're just phonies — inwoodita, inwood, ny" Cheers, Speranza ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html