“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn’t happen much, though.”
– Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of J.D. Salinger’s A Catcher in the Rye
Bookshelf Battle 
Just reread that a few months ago. Love the hunting hat picture, by the way. I must say that I agree with the quote, but J.D. Salinger is not one of the authors I would want to have as my friend. His mind (or at least Holden’s mind) seems way too gloomy and confused.
I’m half-way through it. So assuming he doesn’t do something completely reprehensible by the end of the book (don’t tell me) I kind of feel sorry for the kid. Written in 1951 and yet if you change some of the old timey expressions it could just as easily be about a kid growing up today.
That is very true and one of the reasons why it’s a classic that is still being read in classrooms today (at least I think it’s still on reading lists). 😉