[lykahb]

I read Catcher in the Rye as a teenager. Even then I perceived some of that rebelliousness as trying too hard. A reminder that life at school sucks and many things are meaningless is hardly an epiphany.

Those books come from the times when the counterculture barely started getting commercialized. The market niche for the angsty teenagers, who self-identify as intellectuals, is quite filled with YA, movies and games. One modern outlet that comes to mind is the rationalist community - it provides a distinct perspective to view the world, together with the feeling that you see it better than others.