With Love and Squalor: 13 Writers Respond to the Work of J. D. Salinger

Reading The Catcher in the Rye has become a rite of passage for young Americans, landing the book on bestseller lists (and banned book lists) each year, even though it was published a half century ago. What is it about J. D. Salinger and his body of work that has left such a lasting mark on American fiction? And who better to answer that question than the current generation of writers?

Here are fourteen of the most vital voices in the contemporary American fiction scene pulling no punches in...