Yes, it’s time for my annual Guide to Summer Reading. Since I’ve been doing this for a while (Yikes! It’s been 33 years), I thought it was high time I started with a new, fresh introduction.
Unfortunately, I’m no longer new and fresh, so I asked AI: “Please (I’m polite to AI), give me a snappy opening line I can use to draw my audience into reading my summer book recommendations.”
It responded in a nanosecond with the following: “Whether you are stretching out on the sand at the beach or settling into a long flight, there is nothing quite like losing yourself in a great story.”
Really snappy…huh?
I now revert to my old and stodgy writing style.
438 Days
I’ll start with an incredible nonfiction adventure story, “438 Days” by Jonathan Franklin, about fisherman Salvador Alvarenga, who survived adrift in the Pacific Ocean for nearly 15 months. What makes this story of extreme survival even more amazing is that he didn’t have anything in his small fishing boat when he was blown out to sea. Outside magazine named this “the best survival book in a decade.”
Those of you who have followed my book recommendations over the years know I’m a sucker for coming-of-age stories. This year I discovered a beaut. “Emergence” by David Susillo is a remarkable memoir of how a boy born to heroin-addicted parents and raised in an orphanage and group homes goes on to become a brilliant neuroscientist. The author details the therapy that helped him cope with his childhood traumas. He also described some of the advances in new brain research, including his own award-winning contributions to the field.
Favorite of the Year
My favorite book of the year was “Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont” by Elizabeth Taylor (the celebrated British writer, not the actress). This novel, which I’m guessing is not for everyone, is what I’d call a quiet (very quiet!) story about the friendship between an elderly woman entering a senior citizen’s home and a young writer trying to discover a plot line for his first novel.
There are so many things I loved about this book, but I was especially moved by Mrs. Palfrey’s descriptions of life as a senior citizen and of what she thinks is necessary to feel truly free. I recommended this book to my friend and acclaimed author, Pico Iyer. He loved it so much that he decided to read all of Taylor’s novels.
Speaking of Pico Iyer, I highly recommend his newest work, “Same Sun Same Moon,” which he wrote with the noted photographer Michael Kenna. While it may look a little like a coffee table book (note to Seinfeld fans: It doesn’t come with legs), it is anything but.
What it is is a series of Kenna’s exquisite black-and-white photos, each with a narrative, one by Pico Iyer and the other by Kenna. The photos and accompanying narratives are to be savored, so I rationed the sixty-five images to one per day.
The Movie Critic
Writing yet again about Pico Iyer, it turns out he was cast as the ping-pong judge in my favorite American movie of the year, “Marty Supreme.” This casting by director Josh Safdie was inspired by hearing Pico describe his fascination with ping pong in a TED Talk.
What I found amazing about Pico’s performance in the movie is that in real life, he is the exact opposite of the role he played in the film. So in addition to Pico’s remarkable writing talents, he can now add “talented actor” to his resume.
Other than “Marty Supreme,” I didn’t see any new films I liked enough to recommend, but I did enjoy a 2007 film I recently saw on AMC: “American Gangster.” This film reminded me a little of “The Godfather.” It wasn’t as good as that film, of course, but it’s loosely based on a true story and harkens back to classic gangster films.
It also stars Denzel Washington (I like almost anything he’s in) and Russell Crowe, both of whom gave great performances.
I hadn’t seen “The Shawshank Redemption” since it was released in 1994. After watching it again recently, I was reminded why this wonderful film is one of my all-time favorites.
Have a great summer, and hope to see you at the 49th annual Chapman Forecast in December. Meantime, happy reading, and let me know if any of my recommendations catch your fancy.
