Before we can continue the story, we need some background on the Glass family. However, once the introduction ends, he tells the story in the third-person instead of the first. After several pages of this cryptic stuff, we finally figure out that the narrator is Buddy Glass, Franny's older brother. The 'author' warns us that his tale will be excruciatingly personal, and that its main characters argued with him about how they should be portrayed. 'Zooey' begins with an 'author's introduction,' which is fictional and part of the story. As Lane goes to get a cab for them, the story ends with Franny, alone, staring up at the ceiling, her lips forming soundless words, which we figure to be the Jesus Prayer. Lane and the manager take care of her, and it's clear that she's OK (we suspect that she hasn't eaten in some time and that has something to do with her collapse). Confirming our suspicion that something is wrong, Franny collapses on the way to the bar. Throughout their entire meal, Franny has looked sweaty and pale – and she hasn't touched her meal at all. Lane does ask if she really believes in this stuff, but Franny dodges the question.

He's taught that if he says it constantly, eventually it will move down from his lips and become part of his soul. The book is The Way of the Pilgrim, a 19th century religious story about a devout man who travels all over the world reciting the Jesus Prayer.

Eventually, she divulges the nature of the book and its importance to Lane, who isn't really listening at all. Meanwhile, Franny has been carrying a little pea-green, cloth-bound book in her purse. We find out that she recently quit her theater activities (she was an actress at school) because she was afraid of becoming egotistical herself. She resents the whole college system because she thinks her professors are egotistical. It seems that Franny has been going through this judgmental, angry phase for some time now. Lane comes off as pretentious, and Franny is torn between her annoyance at Lane and her anger at herself for being critical. Franny claims to have missed Lane, but quickly realizes she doesn't mean her words at all. As the two of them head to a fancy French restaurant to have lunch together, it quickly becomes clear these two college coeds have some relationship problems. When Franny arrives however, Lane pretends he barely remembers the letter and tries to hide how excited he is to see her. He reads a letter of hers for about the fifth time in which she, rather humbly, discusses her love for Sappho (an Ancient Greek poet) and for him, Lane.

Lane Coutell, a college student, stands on a train platform waiting for his girlfriend to arrive.

Franny and zooey sparknotes