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I’m glad I read the short story “A Perfect Day for Bananafish�� before reading this. It’s helpful to have some context of the Glass family when picking this up.

“Franny�� is a short story following the youngest member of the Glass family, Franny, as she struggles to compose herself during a lunch date with her boyfriend, Lane, on a weekend visit she makes to him in 1950s upstate New York.

“Zooey�� is a novella following her older brother, the second youngest member of the Glass family, Zachary/Zooey, in the fallout of the events of Franny’s story as they contemplate their unconventional upbringing and education via their two oldest brothers Seymour and Buddy.

Both stories have strong themes of religion, especially how to reach a sort of nirvana, and also reflects on common themes in Salinger’s work include authenticity, creativity, and beauty.

I really enjoyed these stories and appreciated how it gave more insight to the family. It was obviously well written and while at times it felt a bit repetitive it was still engaging, funny, thoughtful and compelling enough to never get boring.