Summer Crossing


DONE! Told you it would be a quick read.

Some Things Never Change

It is true, some things never change -- I guess the way we do things is just imbedded in our DNA -- or something. At any rate, I have always been an impulsive, or maybe compulsive, reader. Reading has always been a fascination for me ever since I sat next to my mother while she read the newspaper and I would ask her what it felt like to be able to read. When I went to school I was a quick learner and I was probably the only child in my class that looked forward to the required reading list passed out at the beginning of the term. I found our public library to be a completely magical place and loved to spend time there. I had my favorite authors, even at age 8, and would strive to read all their titles.

However, I have never been able to just sit down and read every day. I would either sit and read for entire days or let many days pass between books. It would go in phases and it still does. Right now I am in my "read everything I can as fast as I can" stage. I don't know if it has to do with the fact that I have so many "to be read" books filling my two book cases and my window seat that I had to go out and buy three more bookcases or if I am anticipating my Nook being delivered tomorrow and don't want to forget about my hard copies. It could have to do with the fact that it is my least messy pasttime as well. I don't take that lightly.

At any rate, I am starting a new book today -- "Summer Crossing" by Truman Capote. It is set in post World War II New York and it follows a young socialite named Grady McNeil who has been left alone in her parents penthouse for the summer. It is a light romance which turns serious and, apparently, the young woman must make serious decisions that will affect her life as well as the lives of everyone else. Sounds like serious business to me.

I tend to read the reviews on the backs of the books and here are a few from this one:

"The writing is nervously alive with the excitement of Capote enjoying his own strengthening powers." -- Entertainment Weekly

"An outstanding piece of literature...a page-turning story." -- The Sunday Oklahoman

"Witness the coming together of Truman Capote's voice, the electric-into-neon blaze that is surely one of the premier styles of postwar American literature.: -- The Washington Post Book World

"Summer Crossing" was Capote's first book, apparently written while Capote was working for "The New Yorker". It was lost, or thought to be destroyed, but was, in fact, rescued from the rubbish by a house-sitter occupying an apartment that Capote had once resided in. The work was put up for auction at Sotheby's in 2004 and when to the publisher in 2005.

It is a short work and I am sure it will be a quick read. I have a feeling this is going to be one of my "all day reading" days.