A Way of Life, Like Any Other Darcy O’Brien (1977)The bastard child – if you can imagine it – of Slim Aarons and JD Salinger, A Way of Life, Like Any Other is a coming-of-age story like no other. Set in 50s Hollywood, the novel is narrated by a teenager called Salty, whose father once starred in westerns and whose mother was a goddess of the silver screen. In the old days, they enjoyed the high life, but now their careers have crashed, their marriage is broken, and the only way is down. Stylish, hilarious and touching, Salty is every bit as deadly (and as deadpan) a narrator as Holden Caulfield before him

Photograph: Public Domain