If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.
– J. D. Salinger
The Catcher in the Rye. Holden Caulfield in Chapter 1, opening words of book about his messed-up childhood. We are immediately introduced to a boy who is self-absorbed, isolated from his family, profane and deeply insecure.