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My Salinger Year  By  cover art

My Salinger Year

By: Joanna Rakoff
Narrated by: Joanna Rakoff
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Editorial reviews

Editors Select, June 2014 - Joanna Rakoff's memoir My Salinger Year is the kind of book that book lovers will embrace wholeheartedly. In the mid-90’s, Rakoff leaves graduate school in London and finds an ill-paid job at a dusty New York literary agency that just happens to represent the world's most sought-after recluse, J.D. Salinger. She learns to use an old-fashioned Dictaphone and a typewriter (the agency scorns technology), and never, ever to pass on to "Jerry" any of the thousands of letters that arrive for him. Having not read anything by Salinger herself, it is through these letters that Rakoff falls under the spell—becoming infatuated with the fans as much as with the author. It’s like being transported back in time to both the '60s and '90s simultaneously. Rakoff is witness to an era long-gone while in the office, and struggles with the typical stresses of bad boyfriends and bad Brooklyn apartments shared by the masses of 20-somethings who flock to New York in search of a life. My Salinger Year is both a poignant and personal coming-of-age story and a love letter to books and the literary life. I look forward to listening to the author narrate this gem of a memoir herself. —Tricia, Audible Editor

Publisher's summary

Poignant, keenly observed, and irresistibly funny: a memoir about literary New York in the late 90s, a pre-digital world on the cusp of vanishing, where a young woman finds herself entangled with one of the last great figures of the century.

At 23, after leaving graduate school to pursue her dreams of becoming a poet, Joanna Rakoff moves to New York City and takes a job as assistant to the storied literary agent for J. D. Salinger. She spends her days in a plush, wood-paneled office, where Dictaphones and typewriters still reign and old-time agents doze at their desks after martini lunches. At night she goes home to the tiny, threadbare Williamsburg apartment she shares with her socialist boyfriend. Precariously balanced between glamour and poverty, surrounded by titanic personalities, and struggling to trust her own artistic instinct, Rakoff is tasked with answering Salinger’s voluminous fan mail. But as she reads the candid, heart-wrenching letters from his readers around the world, she finds herself unable to type out the agency’s decades-old form response. Instead, drawn inexorably into the emotional world of Salinger’s devotees, she abandons the template and begins writing back. Over the course of the year, she finds her own voice by acting as Salinger’s, on her own dangerous and liberating terms.

Rakoff paints a vibrant portrait of a bright, hungry young woman navigating a heady and longed-for world, trying to square romantic aspirations with burgeoning self-awareness, the idea of a life with life itself. Charming and deeply moving, filled with electrifying glimpses of an American literary icon, My Salinger Year is the coming-of-age story of a talented writer. Above all, it is a testament to the universal power of books to shape our lives and awaken our true selves.

©2014 Joanna Rakoff (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Critic reviews

"Rakoff's story of her time at the agency that represents Salinger and other notable authors is fascinating for its names and its intrigues." (AudioFile)

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What listeners say about My Salinger Year

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Good story great performance

Not sure why I bought this. haven't read salinger. but I really liked it. I liked getting to know the author. I liked that it was so real. usually I dont like books read by the author but I really liked her voice. it felt like this is someone I would like to know. I guess salinger felt the same way.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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My Salinger Year

Calm, clear-eyed, and beautifully written memoir of the author's year as administrative assistant to J.D. Salinger's literary agent. Slyly funny, sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, but also kind and thoughtful. The author, who does the Audible narration, has a gorgeous voice and carries off her pitch-perfect dialogue. If I could read this book every day, I would. You don't need to have read Salinger or even to like Salinger to love this book. After all, the author had not read Salinger--had avoided reading Salinger--when she got her job. I look forward to listening to Joanna Rakoff's first book, A Fortunate Age.

“AUDIBLE 20 REVIEW SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY”

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Wonderful and thought-provoking

I loved listening to every minute of Joanna Rakoff's nonfiction narrative about her first job in the world of New York publishing after she left graduate school. Rakoff is a terrific narrator for her own work, too. I've returned to this audiobook several times to listen again to parts--it's good enough to inspire multiple listens. Audible 20 review sweepstakes entry.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Reflected glory is not so bad, I guess.

It really helps to adore Salinger for this book to be a good fit. Ms. Rakoff really attempts to interweave events of her life into this story in a way that is involving, but I'm not sure she quite gets there. The relational stuff is written in pretty broad strokes. It makes her seem more honest maybe, but she's a little too cautious. If an old, gentle, cat were writing this book, you might be satisfied with exactly what you hear, but this is a girl, not a cat. In the end, her life is a little pale to what we expect. We're really wanting interesting anecdotes of the great author himself, I guess. But wait... the shining star, here, is the narration itself. She's the aural equivalent of a home made quilt, and that's rare. Maybe worth the ticket. I hope she narrates more on Audible--something kindly and strong

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    1 out of 5 stars

Complete boredom!

Would you try another book from Joanna Rakoff and/or Joanna Rakoff?

No way.

Has My Salinger Year turned you off from other books in this genre?

Yes. The author/narrator too.

How could the performance have been better?

Over dramatization of a year full of non events.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

No

Any additional comments?

Glad it's over. I hung in waiting for the story to develop but ...

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Meh

Wanted to like this- I love memoirs as a genre- but I can’t figure out why it was written. Nothing interesting happens, sorry to say. Really, nothing

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Loved it

Tender, smart, honest. Such a perfect depiction of those years after college: the crappy relationship, the wandering, the naïveté, the eagerness and loss of innocence. Gorgeous writing.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • KJ
  • 09-18-22

A surprisingly engrossing story

This is a memoir about a short period of time and it is quite surprisingly engrossing. I really like 24-year-old Joanna. I don’t like some of the other characters and author’s narration is grating, but I still recommend.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

"Don't talk to Jerry!"

Joanna Rakoff starts her career as an assistant in a literary agency that represents many leading authors, the best known being J.D. Salinger. She is taught to treat him with kid gloves, yet it turns out the hermit-like author can be quite garrulous when he calls in. This is a small, gentle, peaceful memoir and it was a pleasure to listen to the author's narration..

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Great book.

Really enjoyed the book. The author did an amazing job capturing coming of age story.

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