Summerland: A Novel

Summerland has proven to be a really great family read along and a really nice bridge into longer, more adult and not romance universe of reading for the niblings.

I have always loved unusual books involving interesting characters with a compelling story. Though this kind of novel (Summertime: A novel by Michael Chabon) is not my usual reading choice; nevertheless, a friend recommended this book to me, and I purchased it on Amazon for a bargain price. As most people know, baseball has been called “the American Pastime.” The main character in this novel is Ethan Feld, who lives on Clam Island in Washington State. He loves baseball even though he is not a very good player; however, when he gets asked by a baseball recruiter to help promote baseball on the island, he hesitates but finally accepts the offer. I never give away too much information when reviewing any novel, but if you like baseball and reading novels by this author you may want to check out this interesting and compelling story. Rating: 4 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Chair/Seated Taichi/Qigong/Yoga stretching for seniors and the physically challenged).

I don't know anything about baseball. I know a lot more now thanks to Micheal Chabon's imaginative and inventive storytelling. The cover grabbed me and wouldn't let me go. The characters kept me coming back again and again to find out what happened next in this story about hope and renewal in spite of evil and imperfect circumstances. I think the book is worth reading for the lengthy prologue and the last paragraph alone, which I am tempted to memorize. Chabon built himself a new fan with this book. Possibly more. About half way through I liked the story so much I bought copies for my 12 year old son and my 12 year old nephew - who's main focus in life is baseball. Finding a story that weaves in so many diverse elements is rare - and in this case - fun and instructive. The character of Coyote was expertly drawn and a good reminder of the true nature of Satan. I thought the last hit in the last inning breaking the windows of Heaven was awesome. Loved the time I spent in this story.

Chabon's "Summerland" loses a star because it has FOUR of the most egregious, stupid, flat-out MISTAKES I have ever seen in a novel. One would have been bad enough, but FOUR really affected the "willing suspension of disbelief" required of fantasy and the experience of immersion that any good novel should provide. 1. On p. 170, the giant Mooseknuckle John makes a wager that if Ethan can catch three of his fastballs, he will let Ethan and his friends continue on their journey (instead of eating them). On p. 188, after barely surviving the second fastball and realizing he could never handle a third, Ethan solves the dilemma by giving the giant the sign for the change-up (a much slower pitch). The book explains that the catcher's sign is inviolable in the giant's land, so that much is fine. But the terms of the wager specified THREE FASTBALLS--yet somehow, the giant doesn't eat the heroes, nobody makes any comment or observation on it, and the narrator offers no explanation. 2. On p. 231, Jennifer is being held in midair by "a firm grip on her ankles," yet "Her hair hung down in her face." Try as I might, I cannot make that picture work. 3. On p. 338, "Thor was learning to play right field, which was the position they regularly had to fill, being only eight in number, with a player from the opposite team." But in the game described in the previous chapter, the borrowed player was used at third base, and from the drills Thor is practicing, it's clear that he's preparing to play THERE. (He was probably already playing right field, since that's traditionally where the weakest player goes.) 4. On p. 390, "The Man with the Knife in His Boot led off with a slap double, stole second, ..." !! Obviously, the first of those errors was important to the plot, and it might have worked fine if Chabon had inserted a sentence or two to explain away the inconsistency. The other three didn't need any creative fixes, just an editor reading the book while awake. (I assume the book HAD an editor; I wouldn't think any publisher would put out a 500-page novel by a best-selling author without assigning it an editor, but maybe I'm mistaken.) You can see why I titled my review with the quotation attributed to Casey Stengel, manager of the New York Mets in their first year in the 1960s. (BTW, according to Wikipedia's entry on Stengel, he actually said "Can't anybody play this here game?" But the other version worked better for the title of Jimmy Breslin's book, and that's the one everybody 'knows.') Those errors aside, the book's not bad, but you have to get past a little self-conscious preciousness, and swallow the premise that baseball is the universal game at the heart of cultures of giants, elves, and everybody/thing else. (I've been a read-the-box-scores-every-day baseball fan for about 50 years, and even I don't think that the designated hitter is literally the work of the Devil.) I haven't read any of Chabon's other books, but based on his excellent reputation, my guess is that he's a better writer when he's not trying to appeal to kids. I certainly hope he's at least a more _careful_ one.

Michael Chabon has created a juvenile fantasy novel that transcends its category and appeals to adults, certainly this adult. By the way, I'm not going to do a plot summary, so you can leave now if that's what you like in a review. There are life lessons in this book that are usually couched in baseball terms. Some of them, like "if a thrown or batted ball frightens you, become a Catcher," or "A Catcher's first duty is to encourage and nourish his Pitcher" can be easily translated into non-baseball concepts, if one finds non-baseball concepts interesting. However, "a baseball game is nothing but a great slow contraption for getting you to pay attention to the cadence of a summer day," is rather hard to divorce from the game. Chabon has often been praised for his use of the language and deservedly so. The baseball in the book is combined with a multi-world adventure among concepts and creatures from Native American and Norse mythology, with a touch of Celtic myth and characters from the mythology that grew up around the North American frontier. The major characters, from the kids who go on the adventure to the villain of the piece, Coyote, are very colorful and interesting but the people they meet are even wilder.

I am a big fan of Michael Chabon’s writing and this novel is no exception. The author explains at the beginning that he believed in fairies when he was young and had a deep and abiding love of baseball. He wanted to read a book about baseball to his children but could not find one that was suitable. So he wrote one that combined baseball and fairies in a way that both children and adults would enjoy. This book is a result. Ethan Feld, the main character, lives on an island off the coast of Washington state called Clam Island where baseball is the main pastime. He is a terrible player. So when a hundred-year-old recruiter from the negro leagues named Ring Finger Brown recruits him to save the Summerlands on Clam Island, along with his friend Jennifer T. Rideout, by playing a succession of games against giants and other formidable opponents, Ethan screws up his courage and accepts the challenge.

I expected a funny interesting book from the writer of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, but I didn't give Chabon enough credit. Summerland is great if you like baseball or fantasy, or if you enjoy any story with an active imagination. This book is 1 part fable (explaining why there is never any rainfall on this small corner of Washington), 5 parts adventure (Ethan Feld is on a quest - not only to improve his pitching, but also to save Summerland, baseball, and the world), and 2 parts baseball, bringing in not only detailed information about the game and some of the best players, but also a genuine love of the sport. A kid at heart, I love reading kids books, but this is really a book for all ages. I bought two copies of this book after reading it (in hardback because this book is so good it can't wait for the paperback version) - one for my 10 year old sister and one for my 28 year old sister. It is really that good. I loved this book. Thank you Michael Chabon for writing it. Summerland is wonderful.

We all know that baseball is considered America's pasttime. What we may not realize is that beings on the other planes of existence also love the game. In a strange mashup of baseball and fantasy, Chabon brings us this story in which Ethan, a kid who is arguably the worst baseball player on Clam Island, has to travel to Summerland and put together a winning baseball team to save the world from the evil Coyote. After making it through the book, I don't know what to think. There were parts that I definitely enjoyed - and the denouement scene with the homerun is a wonderful scene - but for the book as a whole... I still feel lost. Part of that may be due to the fact that I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by the author himself. Though there have been some author-narrated novels that I have loved, they tend to be the exception rather than the rule. While narrating and writing have some skills in common, they also have skills that are different, and though I don't doubt that Chabon is a great author, he could not engage me with his narration. As such, my attention would wander and, even with relistening to parts, I would miss things. It's quite possible that if I were to read this book, as opposed to listening to it, I would enjoy it more. At the same time, I'm not in any real hurry to do so because of my experience with the audiobook.