The story concludes with Franny lying in the restaurant, her lips moving soundlessly, suggesting that she is practising the act of praying without ceasing. After she wakes, he goes to call a taxi to take her to her lodging and leaves Franny alone.

Lane is less interested in the story than in keeping their timetable for the party and football game, though when Franny faints due to her mental state, he tends to her and postpones the weekend's activities. The Jesus Prayer involves internalizing the prayer 'Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me' to a point where, in a manner similar to a Zen koan, it becomes unconscious, almost like a heartbeat. She explains that the book is titled The Way of a Pilgrim and tells the story of how a Russian wanderer learns the power of 'praying without ceasing'. Lane then spots the small book that Franny has been carrying and asks her about it. Eventually, she excuses herself to visit the restroom, where, after a breakdown, she regains her composure.įranny returns to the table, where she expresses her feeling of being troubled with egotism and the need to be accomplished.

She eats nothing, feels faint, and becomes progressively more uncomfortable talking to Lane. Franny questions the importance of college education and the worth of Lane's friends. Lane takes her to a fashionable lunch room, where Franny quickly becomes exasperated when he appears interested only in conversing about the minutiae of his academic frustrations.

The short story concerns Franny's weekend date with her collegiate boyfriend, Lane Coutell. While actor Zooey's younger sister Franny suffers a spiritual and existential breakdown in their parents' Manhattan living room, leaving their mother Bessie deeply concerned, Zooey comes to Franny's aid, offering what he thinks is brotherly love, understanding, and words of sage advice. Zooey is set shortly after the events of Franny in the Glass family apartment in New York City's Upper East Side. Disenchanted with the selfishness and inauthenticity she perceives all around her, she aims to escape it through spiritual means. The story takes place in an unnamed college town during Franny's weekend visit to her boyfriend Lane. The book focuses on siblings Franny and Zooey, the two youngest members of the Glass family, which was a frequent focus of Salinger's writings.įranny tells the story of Franny Glass, Zooey's sister, a college student. The two works were published together as a book in 1961, having originally appeared in The New Yorker in 19 respectively. Salinger which comprises his short story 'Franny' and novella Zooey / ˈ z oʊ. Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introductionįranny and Zooey is a book by American author J.