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Summerland: A Novel (Paperback)

by Michael Chabon (Author) "ETHAN SAID, "I hate baseball ..." (more)

3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (98 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Paperback: 512 pages
Publisher: Miramax (Mar 15 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0786816155
ISBN-13: 978-0786816156
Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 13.5 x 2.8 cm
Shipping Weight: 636 g

Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (98 customer reviews)

Amazon.ca Sales Rank: #159,087 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in these categories:
#21 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( C ) > Chabon, Michael
#27 in Books > Children's Books > Obsessions > Sports > Baseball > Fiction

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Product Description

From Amazon.com

In Summerland, his first novel for young readers, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon attempts an American Narnia. Inspired by Lewis and Tolkien, he's created his own magical landscape on which to paint a sweeping fantasy quest, but mixes the same ingredients--folklore and new inventions--in a distinctively American way.

The plot is simple and pure, but takes a long time to tell. The setting is Clam Island, Washington, specifically the area on the western tip of the island known as the Summerlands, which enjoys zero rainfall and yearlong fine weather. Ethan Feld, a self-described really bad ball player, is recruited by a 100-year-old scout called Mr. Chiron "Ringfinger" Brown. Ethan is needed to help the ferishers, essentially fairies, to save their world from eradication. On the great infinite tree of worlds, Summerland is on the boundary between two such worlds, and a particularly destructive fairy called Coyote and his band of warriors are nearby and threatening to destroy everything.

Heroes are desperately needed to counter this threat, and their journey involves a lot of baseball, but also encounters with giants, bat-winged goblins, sea monsters, and assorted cunning magic. The novel features an ensemble cast of equal parts that shine and fade in turn, and yet the undoubtedly fine writing fails to mask the enormity and complexities of the world in which they travel, and the bad guys getting their comeuppance always seems so far away. Readers need to savor every word in Summerland to extract the best flavors from it. (Ages 10 and older.) --John McLay, Amazon.co.uk --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Michael Chabon’s first novel for young readers is a sadly disappointing fantasy fiction that jumbles together a mythic history of inter-world baseball, and includes denizens from any number of folk traditions including sasquatches, werewolves (werefoxes and weresquirrels too). Folklore figures like Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, Babe, as well as that mischievous First Nations trickster figure, Coyote, who Chabon here casts in the role of the ultimate villain, bits and pieces of Americana, a Tolkienesque Middle Earth which Chabon originally dubs the Middling (complete with ancient maps covered in runes and an extremely scaled down version of Ragnarok), and the end of the world from the perspective of Norse mythology. Summerland is much too long, running to almost 500 densely packed pages, and gets so bogged down in its many levels of layered tales that readers are likely to lose interest in the frame story in which young Ethan Feld sets off into the mythical Summerland to rescue his father and to stop Coyote from destroying life as we know it. Think W.P. Kinsella’s Shoeless Joe or The Iowa Baseball Confederacy mixed with Thomas King’s Green Grass, Running Water; add a dash of Tolkien, a sprinkle of Ian Fleming’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and a soupcon of Harry Potter and you have what Chabon hoped to achieve in Summerland. It’s obvious that Chabon doesn’t respect his young readers; otherwise he wouldn’t try to constantly deflect their attention from Ethan’s quest with bits and bites of story. Nor does Chabon respect the mythologies that he pilfers for use in Summerland—his “Ragged Rock” just doesn’t have the kick that it needs—he might check out British young adult writer Melvin Burgess’ Bloodtide to see how to use the Norse myths in a contemporary fiction—and his Coyote is malevolent to the core with no sense of the comic play that seems to be part of the traditional trickster’s tales. Chabon might have won the Pulitzer for his adult fiction, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay but he’s totally missed his mark in Summerland.
Jeffrey Canton (Books in Canada) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
ETHAN SAID, "I hate baseball." Read the first page

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

98 Reviews

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(7)

Average Customer Review

3.7 out of 5 stars (98 customer reviews)

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1.0 out of 5 stars Not recommended, Jul 7 2004

By A Customer

Good fantasy/childrens' authors (Rowling, Tolkien, L'Engle, Ende, Lewis, etc.) twist or bend reality to reveal new worlds. In contrast, Chabon uses a blunt force trauma approach.

For example, there is a special creature (Cutbelly) who can travel from "Summerland" to "Winterland" and other worlds. Cutbelly can take the protagonist (Ethan) with him. Cutbelly dies or gets injured (reader can't tell) and Ethan simply picks up a really smart/nerdy grade school classmate to perform the complex task of navigating between worlds/dimensions. No explanation given as to how this seemingly normal gradeschool child without magical abilities can do this.

Characters, save one or two, did little to endear themselves to the reader.

The Ultimate Fatal Flaw: Chabon rather randomly creates characters, plot points, situations and worlds without adequate grounding, explanation, or motivation.

Unfortunately, I rarely read fiction (almost always reading work-related nonfiction) --- so this book was to be my "Summer" treat.

Avoid the dissapointment.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Summerland - makes me feel fine., May 31 2004

By	E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

When you think of fantasy books in which characters band together to go on a mysterious quest, you think of one place. Britain. Most quest stories for children either are written by Brits or take place (as in the case of Lloyd Alexander's "Prydain Chronicles") in a European setting. Honestly, the most notable exception to this rule is also the oldest. "The Wizard of Oz" is a proudly American tale, beginning in Kansas and continuing in a land that has a particularly Yankee feel to it. So it should come as no surprise that the man to follow in the late great L. Frank Baum's shoes should be none other than Michael Chabon. An author mostly associated with books for adults, he has tried his hand at penning the ultimate American children's fantasy. And to his credit, he nearly succeeds.

"Summerland" begins on Clam Island where our hero, Ethan Feld, lives with his inventor father. The two are relative newcomers to the isle, but they participate whole-heartedly in the local youth baseball team. Ethan, unfortunately, is a horrendous player. He dislikes the sport and is perfectly aware that he is the reason the team has lost its last seven games. On one particular day, however, Ethan finds himself scouted by a local group of fairies or, as they prefer to be called, ferishers. The ferishers are looking for a hero, and their hero scout has come up with Ethan. Suddenly the boy that couldn't hit a baseball to save his life finds himself in charge of saving the universe in a world that couldn't possibly be any more different from his own.

First of all, I should state that if you do not like baseball in the least, do not read this book. "Summerland" hinges on the idea that in the Summerlands (a world like and unlike our own to which Ethan travels) baseball is a sport that absolutely everyone plays. Entire civilizations have been destroyed by the designated-hitter rule. Giants are capable of throwing thunder and lightening itself. And in the end, existence itself is decided after nine straight innings. The crazy crew of characters Ethan teams up with become his own private baseball team, and Ethan himself learns how to swing a mighty, if painful, bat.

I enjoyed all the particularly American aspects of this tale. The ferishers do not look like magical leprechauns or British elves. Instead, they bear some resemblance to Native Americans and they play a mean game of ball. Our heroes come across the ultimate trickster god/villain Coyote, and it is his plans that need to be changed for the world to keep on going. They meet up with a group called the Big Liars, a motley assortment of some of the best tall tale legends ever to walk the American soil. They befriend a sasquatch. What Chabon is doing here is incorporating a variety of enjoyable motifs and images that conjure up some of the most beloved images of the United States itself.

Which isn't to say the book is entirely a success. There is a definite trend amongst established adult writers these days to switch focus and write for children. Clive Barker, Joyce Carol Oats, Elmore Leonard, etc. Chabon is just the latest author to jump aboard the kiddie lit bandwagon, but he's got a ways to go. After all, it takes a fair amount of skill to successfully pen books that kids will not only read but also enjoy. I can't fault Chabon's ideas, plot, or characters in "Summerland" because they are, one and all, entrancing. That leaves the writing itself, and I'm afraid its just not up to par. Chabon has a nasty habit of not explaining things, a writing style that works perfectly well for adults but is a strain on younger readers. Large shifts in the plot occur from time to time without much in the way of explanation. One of the characters, for example, explains how Coyote promised her a little brother but it turned out badly in the end. A fair amount of guesswork has to go into understanding this speech and when all is said and done it's still fairly unclear. A multitude of different problems like this one sprout up all over the book. It's almost as if Chabon hasn't yet discovered his children's literature voice as of yet.

There's a lot to love in "Summerland" just the same. Ethan Feld, our reluctant hero, is nothing so much as a slightly modified Charlie Brown. Here we have a character that never succeeds without luck or a vast amount of effort. He doesn't suddenly wake up one morning and decide that he's going to be heroic or superior. And for the most part he's treated exactly like the boy he is by the other characters. Unlike almost every other person in this story, Ethan is completely normal. He has a deep wisdom that surfaces from time to time, but otherwise he's a believable child. A person dissecting this book to pieces might well argue that the entire point of the story can be summarized as, "Magical events teach a boy to love baseball", and that wouldn't be far off. It's the journey that takes him from disenchantment to a steadfast love of the game that makes the novel worth reading. Other touches, like classic Native American folktales, the fate of men that place discovery over reason, and the names of the giants, all combine to make this little epic enjoyable and a stitch.

It's not perfect, no. It's not. Michael Chabon has some practicing to do before he is included on the list of "Great Crossover Writers For Adults and Children" but he's definitely getting there. He's accomplished something with this book that most writers never come to. He's made an original American fantasy novel. It's no "Wizard of Oz", but it's getting there. And it is definitely worth your time and money to read it. If you like stories where the heroes are good, the villains complex, and the situations dire if not hopeless, read yourself a little "Summerland". It's a pip.

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2.0 out of 5 stars Chabon should go back to writing adult stories, May 9 2004

By	Lindsey Henderson (Bak Middle School of the Arts, West Palm Beach) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Summerland: A Novel (Hardcover)

Summerland by Michael Chabon
If I had to describe this book in 5 words, it would probably be a spin- off of the Harry Potter series. This book was not one of the best books I have read to say the least. I mean, sure it was "ok" and it did have some originality into it, but it didn't live up to its praise by Publisher's Weekly review stating that "Pulitzer Prize winner Chabon hits a high- flying home run." I wasn't impressed by Chabon's writing; the book didn't hold my attention; the most attention-grabbing parts were the color less pictures at the beginnings of each chapter. This book took me a lot to get into it and nothing to get me out of it. I highly anticipated this book when my 7th grade language teacher told me that after reading "Time Magazine" article on the adult author, Chabon is going to be the next J.K Rowling. But obviously, Chabon should go back to being an adult writer. Chabon is an adult writer so maybe adults would like to read a children's book written by an adult writer, I presume why the ratings for this book are so high. I would find it to be an insult to J.K Rowling's work because her work was being compared to his. Summerland is about a boy, Ethan, who lost his mother at a very young age, (like Harry Potter) and is having trouble playing baseball in which he is forced to play by his father. His Father is an inventor and invented a flying car. At this point the author doesn't clarify if this is in the future, past or present. From there, Ethan meets a creature by the name of Cutebelly and tells him of the other secret worlds in, which he lives in, that nobody knows of which might be vanished by an evil dictator named Coyote. Then Ethan discovered his father mysteriously disappeared (who was really kidnapped by Coyote). Along goes Ethan and friends to stop the evil Coyote from ruling the world(s) and possibly killing his Father by traveling through the worlds using his Father's old flying car and winning baseball games to defeat enemies that cross their path. This book is filled with morals, adventure and sickening amount of baseball games, so many that it makes you literally want to jump out of your chair and get a bat in order to play baseball using the book as a baseball. On a more serious note, I enjoyed how the author incorporated the metaphor of summer having its own world since during the summer it feels like a whole different place. I enjoyed his various and descriptive characters that he put in the book, but it may be overwhelming to some people. This book is arguably bad or good considering the person. My opinion on this book when recommending it would be not to read it, but if you enjoy Michael Chabon as a writer and have an obsession with baseball I would definitely recommend it.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Suspend your Disbelief
I have spent a number of incredibly enjoyable hours over the past few days devouring Summerland (when I should have been writing, playing with my kids, etc.,). Read more

Published on April 29 2004 by Anne Fitten Glenn (author)

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing coming from Mr. Chabon
Michael Chabon is my favorite author, and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is my favorite novel, so I tackled Summerland with much anticipation. Read more

Published on April 27 2004 by K Reeves

5.0 out of 5 stars ***Summerland Rocks***
This book by Michael Chabon is so great, it has a very interesting storyline. Summerland has some pretty graphic details including eating werewolves and having blood seep down the... Read more

Published on April 9 2004 by califlower444

5.0 out of 5 stars Much better than Harry Potter
This is the best children's book I have read in a long time. I am an adult but I think this book fits best in "read it to you child at bedtime" book category. Read more

Published on Feb 18 2004 by John I. Provan