cher_n_books's review
3.0
3 stars - It was good.
What a quirky little novel. The tone put me in mind of [b:Little Children|842941|Little Children|Tom Perrotta|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347736504s/842941.jpg|828476], though I preferred the writing of the latter.
The book starts with a couple of chapters that dump the reader into the strange characters instead of easing them in and will be a turn off for some. If you give it at least 10-15 chapters (they are very short), you will have a better idea of whether or not you will become engaged in the story.
-------------------------------------------
Favorite Quote: We’re all terrible people. Eventually, we all become terrible, maybe around the middle of our lives, and then, if we’re lucky, we have time to find a way to be good again.
First Sentence: In the hay gold dusk of late spring, Don Lowry takes his usual walk through town and out to the fields beyond it.
What a quirky little novel. The tone put me in mind of [b:Little Children|842941|Little Children|Tom Perrotta|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347736504s/842941.jpg|828476], though I preferred the writing of the latter.
The book starts with a couple of chapters that dump the reader into the strange characters instead of easing them in and will be a turn off for some. If you give it at least 10-15 chapters (they are very short), you will have a better idea of whether or not you will become engaged in the story.
-------------------------------------------
Favorite Quote: We’re all terrible people. Eventually, we all become terrible, maybe around the middle of our lives, and then, if we’re lucky, we have time to find a way to be good again.
First Sentence: In the hay gold dusk of late spring, Don Lowry takes his usual walk through town and out to the fields beyond it.
ponycanyon's review
2.0
I loved Bakopoulos's "Please don't come back from the moon." As much as "Summerlong" is trying SO hard to be a modern Yates/Cheever/Updike/etc. Big Serious damning indictment of the modern marriage and wasted potential in middle age and beta malehood and all that, all of the characters are mere ciphers, acting like people don't, uttering forced dialogue, and generally being hilarious. This is sub-"American Beauty" posturing and straining, effortful try-hardery that would read like a hilarious pastiche of those types of novels if it wasn't so po-faced. There's so much potential there in the collapsing fin de siecle of middle American culture, but it's squandered again and again. The narrative is a sloppy mess, too - even little details like times of day and basic characterization are so inconsistent that the book literally feels unedited. I could write a laundry list of odd/inexplicable plot holes, characterization mishaps, and even straight-up continuity errors that occur on every other page. This one's a turkey!
mlvreads's review
4.0
There is nothing particularly spectacular about the story of Summerlong. There is no magic, no sweeping romance, no car chases or pulse-pounding mysteries. I spent two nights in a row promising myself one more chapter, a few more pages, and breaking that promise each time.
I enjoy stories about life and love. I am especially drawn to anything that discusses life "after the happily ever after" or whatever. Real love, real relationships.
This book tells the story (and Bakopoulos does an awesome job telling this story) of Don and Claire Lowry. They are just about 40 years old, they have two children, and suddenly, their marriage is crumbling. There is no reason. There isn't an event that begins the downfall. It's just life.
But there's so much more to it than that. On the same night, with no one watching their children at home as they both think the other is home, Claire meets a young man named Charlie and Don meets a young woman named ABC. These encounters are what start the story, and each character we meet along the way somehow blends in and intertwines with everyone else.
The book is a third person narrative, and Dean Bakopoulos does an amazing job of tackling each character. Three of the main characters are women, in three different stages in their lives, and it felt natural and believable and I never thought "Look at this guy thinkin' he can discuss a woman's feelings." Because he did an awesome job.
If you're looking for an awesome think piece of life and love and marriage and what drives people to do the things they do (if anything really does drive them), I recommend picking up this book.
I enjoy stories about life and love. I am especially drawn to anything that discusses life "after the happily ever after" or whatever. Real love, real relationships.
This book tells the story (and Bakopoulos does an awesome job telling this story) of Don and Claire Lowry. They are just about 40 years old, they have two children, and suddenly, their marriage is crumbling. There is no reason. There isn't an event that begins the downfall. It's just life.
But there's so much more to it than that. On the same night, with no one watching their children at home as they both think the other is home, Claire meets a young man named Charlie and Don meets a young woman named ABC. These encounters are what start the story, and each character we meet along the way somehow blends in and intertwines with everyone else.
The book is a third person narrative, and Dean Bakopoulos does an amazing job of tackling each character. Three of the main characters are women, in three different stages in their lives, and it felt natural and believable and I never thought "Look at this guy thinkin' he can discuss a woman's feelings." Because he did an awesome job.
If you're looking for an awesome think piece of life and love and marriage and what drives people to do the things they do (if anything really does drive them), I recommend picking up this book.
loonyboi's review against another edition
3.0
An enjoyable, literary novel about early middle age ennui. A mix of [a:John Cheever|7464|John Cheever|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1208899860p2/7464.jpg] and [a:Michael Chabon|2715|Michael Chabon|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1345835784p2/2715.jpg] (especially [b:Wonder Boys|16707|Wonder Boys|Michael Chabon|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1380670205s/16707.jpg|2045395]) with a fair amount of sex added in for good measure. It's enjoyable and well written.
Where it lost me is that there are four characters (two in their late 30s, two in their 20s) and they're all impossibly good looking. Maybe it's just Bakopoulos' prose, but he's constantly telling us how these people are in amazing shape, and stunning to look at. As far as I can tell, there are no ugly or overweight people to be found in this book. Which is pretty unusual, since it takes place in Iowa (I kid, I kid!).
But anyway, it's enjoyable. I found it made for good summertime reading.
Where it lost me is that there are four characters (two in their late 30s, two in their 20s) and they're all impossibly good looking. Maybe it's just Bakopoulos' prose, but he's constantly telling us how these people are in amazing shape, and stunning to look at. As far as I can tell, there are no ugly or overweight people to be found in this book. Which is pretty unusual, since it takes place in Iowa (I kid, I kid!).
But anyway, it's enjoyable. I found it made for good summertime reading.
More...