summer people

Just finished reading Summer People by Brian Groh. It's a first novel that got pretty good reviews in the Portland Press Herald. It took me a while to finish it and I'm not sure I'd recommend it. The basic plot definitely fits the category of "beach read" and the cover art with a lake and a close-up of long female legs complete with flip-flops hanging over the side of a boat confirms that.

What is interesting is that most of the story is told from the perspective of a guy. It's basically a story of teenage (really early twenties) angst - who am I? what do I want to do? who do I love? - with plenty of drinking and some sex thrown in. I'm not sure if I found it a difficult story to absorb because it wasn't an engaging story, or because I read it in fits and starts over the past few weeks, or if it was because the main character was male. There were some good plot lines about the differences between growing up in Cleveland and summering in coastal Maine.

Each chapter started with a few phrases that provided an overview of what would happen. From Chapter Eleven: "Nathan confesses his plans - A chilling cry - Paramedics provided succor and shame - Night at the hospital - Eldwin draws a circle." I felt a bit like I was reading sidenotes to a play. Not sure it's a technique that I like.

A intriguing aside is that Steve (of the Tolkien, Robert Jordan, Ursula LeGuin books) said he thought it looked like an interesting book. I can count on one hand the number of times that he has shown any interest in a fiction book that I'm reading. I didn't ask him whether that was based on the cover art, the storyline, or the fact that the