Child’s Play – The New York Times

admin July 1, 2023

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Dear Reader,

“As is often the case these days, my mind was completely blank.” — Gene Shepard

The year I turned 17, I went around announcing that I was approaching the “Summer of Coming of Age.” Because it was an expression I hated (the palatial sound of sexual awakening) and I would be scared if I didn’t say it. It may be that someone else does. After all, my summer itinerary included many of her typical YA elements: new surroundings, different people, and rapid growth. And not surprisingly, everyone I met thought only of me and my hero’s journey.

At that event, there wasn’t much to show me other than a disastrous haircut at home, a brown paper bag full of waitress tips, and a short-lived friendship with an aspiring classics professor who briefly dropped out of school. There was no. Follow Dave Matthews Band. Oh, and I read a lot of books. Apply mutatis mutandis.

Here are some recommendations for summer vacation.

—Sadie Stein

New Yorkers of any age know Gene Shepard. cult radio host, a yarn spinner and a cryptic prankster whose catchphrase is “Excelsior, you fat head!” —it was the rallying cry of an irreverent generation of young people. In one famous hoax, Shepard worked with listeners to invent a historical novel called “”.i am the libertineby Frederick R. Ewing. The book became a literary sensation as his fans relentlessly promoted this non-existent book. (in the end, He and Theodore Sturgeon actually wrote it. )

For others, Shepard is the voice-over narrator of “A Christmas Story,” based on a fictionalized story of his childhood in Indiana. Leg ramps and bunny suits may be pop culture clichés at this point, but despite these basic cable marathons, Shepard’s work remains sweet and sour. Initially, Shepard was hesitant to write his story down, but was persuaded by his friend Shel Silverstein to give it a try. The result was In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash, a bestseller. This episodic novel includes Sapling from “A Christmas Story” and many other essays. Also chock-full of so sharp and funny writing, so appropriate and so bizarre imagery, you’ll lament that there could have been ten “Christmas stories”, turning these written stories into unexpected ones. I hold it tight like a stash of treasure.

Kindly read: “I, Libertine” “Christmas Story” “Goodbye Columbus” “This American Life”
Available from: a good book store Or a well-stocked library

“That hot August in France was intermittent, and we ate vegetables and got sick…” A very different coming-of-age story, Godden’s novel is told from the point of view of 13-year-old Cecil Gray. be done. After her mother fell ill, she filmed her own device with her four siblings in her crumbling home in the Champagne region. They become involved in the lives of the hotel landlady Mademoiselle Gigi, her lover (a charming Englishman named Elliott), and various members of her family. The eldest of his siblings, 16-year-old Joss is just coming of age and feeling his power. Adult readers witness her danger and plunder surrounding her.

What begins as a languid childhood idyll grows relentlessly tense and menacing. Godden has an uncanny knack for reconciling restraint and macabre. Here, Cecil’s precocious but incredibly childish narration contrasts with her corruption that surrounds her. Despite being published in the 1950s and set in the immediate aftermath of World War I, the book feels fresh. Issues of sex and queerness are treated as facts, and the prose is sharp and clear.

Kindly read: “The Go-Between”, “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn”, “Demon Copperhead”, Colette, Plum.
Available from: Good used bookstore or well-stocked library

Why not…

Please be careful with children? This growth reminds me of a quote from the great Junichiro Tanizaki novel. “Some people like nettles.” Completed series in 1929: “Children retain a lot of things, and when they grow up they start to look at things and re-judge things from an adult’s point of view. We have to be careful—they will grow up one day.”
Name it carefully? The other day I stumbled across a book on baby naming published nearly 20 years ago in the Little Free Library. Readers, I am fascinated. In addition to Jakes and Madison’s usual roster, the book includes “Forensic Scientist,” “Sailor,” “Poet,” “Crowd,” “Fool,” “Barfly,” and yes, “Editors. ” So books are treasures, curiosities, time capsules, and you should never miss a free book without thorough research.
Exposing? Zora Neale Hurston’s 1942 memoir “Dust tracks on the road” May not withstand the most rigorous fact-checking. The age of the author may or may not decrease by 10 years. But no one can deny that the book contains some very clever, subversive and vivid moments about childhood and art, anthropological fieldwork, identity and prestige. Everyone should read this book at least once, preferably in a new, non-deleted version. There is also a line that becomes a partner for life. Only one thing: “Nothing hurts more than having an untold story inside of you.”