A review by mikayladlewis
My Salinger Year by Joanna Rakoff

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.75

I think this is the first time I have watched the movie before I read the book. For that reason, I flew through this book since I knew the structure of the story. However, I remember walking out of the movie and enjoying it but feeling frustrated that there wasn't a "resolution", and as I finished this book, again I was frustrated that there wasn't a "resolution". But, that is sorta the point. This is a memoir written from a specific season in Rakoff's life and the beauty of it is that she goes through the difficulty of it and doesn't come out on top, doesn't come out on the bottom, but she comes out of it. This is a book about testing boundaries and not settling for what is easy even though that is what is comfortable. 

I am appreciative that Rakoff shares this part of her life with us in such an open and vulnerable way. There is a lot of privelege that goes untouched here but no matter who you are, it takes a lot of guts to put your story out in the open for the public to see. And for that I enjoyed this memoir and the glimpse into New York in the late 90s.