A mention of the late author JD Salinger evokes myriad reactions from people, given that there are ardent fans of his oeuvre. And over the years, his books, be it The Catcher in the Rye (1951) or Franny and Zooey (1961), still manage to retain cult status.

My Salinger Year, Joanna Rakoff, Bloomsbury, Rs 399. Available at leading bookstores.

However, in the 1990s, when 23-year-old Joanna Rakoff moves to New York and gets a job as an assistant at a literary agency, she has no clue who Salinger is. When her boss initially refers to ‘Jerry’, she wonders if they are referring to the comedian Jerry Seinfeld. It presents a slight problem as the agency happens to represent the author.