How do you deal with alienation?
mdakin: I think the type of friend you want is rare.  But there is hope-- these people want to find you as much as you want to find them!  Do what it takes to meet and get to know as many people as possible.  I don't mean to befriend them all by any means but get to know them, try to understand them etc.  Develop an interest in people and in relating to people IN GENERAL.  Do not have expectations of amazing connections.  Be in the moment.  By that I mean you should be putting your full-self into the interaction.  And you should be spontaneous and follow the intuitive flow of the situation rather than fixating on preconceived ideas you may have.  Just like when you're debugging code.  All focus on that person.  What they are saying, how they are saying it, etc.  Talk and respond.  Monitor their feelings and adjust what you're saying and how you're saying it to make things go smoothly and interestingly for all.  Monitor your feelings.  Is this person making you feel slow, annoyed, sad?  Or are they making you feel excited, "CAN!", surprised, etc?  Take that information into account when "valuing" people.  Someone who has different interests but makes you feel excited and enthusiastic is of much greater value than a carbon copy of yourself.  Esp. if you're doing the same thing for them by a different magic mechanism.  It's yin-yang.  Lookout for that more than anything else.  Good luck!  And don't worry about feeling like a Holden.  Holden's a good guy just a little immature.  And being the catcher in the rye is a mighty good plan and one way to realize just what I'm suggesting.  Not for everyone of course but helping the good and innocent can yield great satisfaction.