Michael Finkel
This is never an easy question to answer. While I have always loved to read, since I was very young, the first time I read "The Catcher in the Rye," J.D. Salinger's magnum opus, I was completely smitten -- something about the voice of Holden Caulfield, the smoothness of the prose, the feeling that the author was speaking directly to me, the fact that I was so young (maybe 17 years old) just left a deep impression on me. I've since read hundreds of books that have utterly gripped me, and many dozens (like "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy) that I've read in a single, entranced sitting, but like a first true love, the immensity of the emotions stirred by "Catcher" have never been surmounted.
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Bamstutz
asked
Michael Finkel:
As I read your book about Christopher Knight I couldn't help thinking about Christopher McCandless. They were both part of the post-boomer generation (born in the mid 1960's), rejected modern life, and went off to find authenticity in the wild/woods. What are your thoughts about the cultural significance of these two men? What can we learn from their quests?
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