I carried this volume and, at different times, Raise High the Roofbeams or Franny & Zoey, with me for over a year, everywhere I went. It was a comfort to me during a difficult time, just to read his wonderful words, savour them. The end of Bananafish still makes me catch my breath. And the beginning - "She was a girl who for a ringing phone dropped exactly nothing." I can't pinpoint why these stories are so good, or why they have been so important to me, for so long. Like everyone else, I love Esme, but Bananafish and Uncle Wiggily are also brilliant, and continue to be, no matter how often I re-read. Please read these stories, and also Raise High (wonderful, heart-wrenching and the longest perfect sentence I have ever read) and Franny and Zoey (not quite as good, but that's just being picky). They are all about the same family, so you feel like you are catching up with old friends. ( )