"Where Did the Ducks Go"

"It's a Saturday night in December 1950, a few days before the start of winter break, and Holden has just been expelled from boarding school again. His plan, if he could be said to have one, is to hole up in a hotel for a few days before returning to his parents' apartment on the Upper East Side. This shouldn't be a problem: He has some cash, and he knows the city, having lived here all his life. Holden, though, is 16, lost emotionally and physically, and as his world unravels during the next 48 hours, mostly what he does is walk."

In the Los Angeles Times, David Ulin retraces Holden Caulfield's travels in New York.