42 pages 1 hour read

J. D. Salinger

Franny and Zooey

Fiction | Short Story Collection | Adult | Published in 1961

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Part 1, Pages 3-27Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1: “Franny”

Part 1, Pages 3-27 Summary

Content Warning: The source material contains depictions of suicide and mental health conditions.

Lane Coutell waits at a train station for his girlfriend Franny Glass to arrive. Lane looks forward to seeing Franny and has much to tell her about college life. Lane takes Franny’s most recent letter out of his pocket and reads it as he waits. In her letter, Franny writes about how excited she is to visit him and how much she loves him. She writes about how her one goal for their weekend together is to focus on having a wonderful time. As the train arrives, Lane puts the letter away, and Franny gets off the train. Lane greets Franny and gets her bags for her. Franny holds a book in one hand, and Lane asks her what she is reading, but she dismisses the question and stuffs the book into her handbag. As Lane and Franny get into a taxi, Lane says they can drop her bags off where she is staying and then go out to lunch. Franny tells him that she missed him, but she realizes as she says it that it isn’t true.

An hour later, Lane and Franny sit at a restaurant together.