Something Old, Something New, Something Franny and Something Zooey (by J.D. Salinger)

Reader #1: A fresh-faced, strait-laced blonde on the N-train, immersed in a lovingly tattered paperback copy.

Reader #2: A handsome brunette dressed in all-black, clutching a crisp new hardcover on the 2-train. The hood of her coat was the approximate size and shape of a toilet bowl—but one of those fancy toilet bowls.

Clearly . . . this is one of those Betty and Veronica situations. In this case, Archie is played by Salinger and whoever best “gets” his subtexts, gets to make out in the back seat of his infamous jalopy.

But don’t examine that analogy too closely. It’s nearly as dysfunctional as the aforementioned jalopy.

First Sentence: "Though brilliantly sunny, Saturday morning was overcoat weather again, not just topcoat weather, as it had been all week and as everyone had hoped it would stay for the big weekend— the weekend of the Yale game."

Last Sentence: "For some minutes, before she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, she just lay quiet, smiling at the ceiling."

Sounds like . . . the moments directly following many a good book.