This is a collection of nine exceptional short stories. The book includes two of Salinger's most famous and critically acclaimed pieces, which helped to establish him among contemporary literary greats. The title story - a soldier's recollection of his meeting with a young girl, Esme, before being sent into combat - prompted a flood of readers' letters when it was first published in "The New Yorker in 1950". The haunting, "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" is the first of the author's many stories to feature the Glass family and follows eldest sibling, Seymour Glass, and his wife, Muriel, as they honeymoon in Florida.