"The Young Folks" is J. D. Salinger's first published story, published in Whit Burnett's Story magazine in the March–April 1940 issue. Burnett was the teacher of short story writing at Columbia University, where Salinger took his course. Salinger himself was 21 at the time of its publication.
Summary
The story satirizes the selfish concerns of a pair of young adults at a party and the festering shallowness of their lives.
References
The Young Folks Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA