There are those little gems you find in a cool bookstore completely by accident that become beloved, well-worn books that make their way around your immediate group of friends, Grab Onto Me Tightly As If I Knew the Way, by Bryan Charles, was one of those books for me. Not only is it a kind of Catcher in the Rye of the Nirvana generation, but in a way that Holden could never be, the narrator, Vim Sweeney, is deeply damaged, and somewhat unaware of that damage. He's just a kid trying to make it through High School graduation and the beginning of life.
I can't quite put my finger on why this novel works so well, but somehow it does. And unlike Catcher in the Rye, which I truly believe you have to read as a teenager, or you won't connect to it in the way you are supposed to, Grab onto Me Tightly works for an adult who is less in touch with the overwhelming emotion of those formative years. It's just a great read.
Happy Reading,
Julia
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