Michael Underhill

I had very little recollection of reading this book in high school so I wanted to go back and read it again. I was inspired after reading Field of Dreams and seeing that the recluse author that Ray Kinsella goes to find is actually real life writer JD Salinger and not fictitious writer Terrance Mann (portrayed by James Earl Jones in the movie). That's a long intro just to say that this book sucked and I can't believe I was asked to read it in high school. Maybe that's why I couldn't remember anything about it... I didn't actually read it! I can't imagine a teenager being able to slog their way through Salinger's writing. It was boring and Caulfield was terribly unlikeable. The only time he was at all redeemable was when he talked about his brother Allie and his sister Phoebe. I felt for the guy a little bit on account of his parents being pretty absentee and the trauma of losing his brother never being resolved. Overall, pretty overrated book. I'm glad I finished it so I can move on.