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A review by taralpittman
Summerlong by Dean Bakopoulos
5.0
The fact that this narrative reminds of something I've read in the past, and really enjoyed, yet cannot remember is driving me crazy; nevertheless, this was a great read! I was already sold, based on the marketing description, and I’m so thankful that it did not disappoint. Here’s a passage that I just have to share; Claire, one of the main characters, is at the community swimming pool with her kids:
"Claire focuses on the many middle-aged women, mostly mothers, around her, also wearing bikinis, but none of them, as beautiful as some of them were, suggested that kind of pending eruption she sees in the half-naked young people around her. No, Claire and her almost-forty contemporaries stand about suggesting the virtues of endurance. They had made it to middle age with a remnant of hotness, and despite the attendant sagging and indignities of aging, they managed to transcend the reality that a tattoo above the ass or behind the shoulder had been a bad idea. Yes, many of the women, Claire included, have approached forty with a verve and vigor, had Pilated and power-walked themselves into a kind of level of fitness that they had not seen since sixteen, and when they went to the pool, the self-loathing they’d been taught to feel as teenagers had been replaced by a sexy confidence."
Isn't this great? I can't even do it justice. I feel like the author has imbued this entire novel with a sarcastic, yet awfully true, and humorous portrayal of life in the ‘burbs; these characters long for something different, but they seem trapped in the only reality with which they are familiar. I think the writing is fantastic, and I highly recommend this one.
"Claire focuses on the many middle-aged women, mostly mothers, around her, also wearing bikinis, but none of them, as beautiful as some of them were, suggested that kind of pending eruption she sees in the half-naked young people around her. No, Claire and her almost-forty contemporaries stand about suggesting the virtues of endurance. They had made it to middle age with a remnant of hotness, and despite the attendant sagging and indignities of aging, they managed to transcend the reality that a tattoo above the ass or behind the shoulder had been a bad idea. Yes, many of the women, Claire included, have approached forty with a verve and vigor, had Pilated and power-walked themselves into a kind of level of fitness that they had not seen since sixteen, and when they went to the pool, the self-loathing they’d been taught to feel as teenagers had been replaced by a sexy confidence."
Isn't this great? I can't even do it justice. I feel like the author has imbued this entire novel with a sarcastic, yet awfully true, and humorous portrayal of life in the ‘burbs; these characters long for something different, but they seem trapped in the only reality with which they are familiar. I think the writing is fantastic, and I highly recommend this one.