- Hardcover: 160 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Classics (17 Nov 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0713999292
- ISBN-13: 978-0713999297
- Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 13.2 x 2.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,066,753 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
|
There is a newer edition of this item:
|
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Book Description
First publication of htis recently discovered first novella by Truman Capote.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
Grady, beautiful, rich, flame-haired, defiant, is the sort of girl people stare at, across a room. The daughter of an important man, is who people want to be introduced to. A girl to whom people sense something is going to happen. But her privileged society life of parties, debutantes and dresses leaves her wanting for more. And excitement comes in the form of the highly unsuitable Clyde, a Brooklyn-born, Jewish parking attendant. When Grady's parents leave her alone for the first time in their New York penthouse one summer, their secret affair intensifies. As a heat wave envelops the city, Grady gets in deeper and deeper and cares less about the consequences. Soon, though, she will be forced to make decisions choices that will forever affect her future once the long, sultry summer comes to an end.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This never before published first novel by Truman Capote is a delight and should be a must-stockingstuffer for all fans of Capote. Although not his finest work, it nevertheless clearly displays his talents of description and characterisation and prefigures his later work esp. Breakfast at Tiffany's. The beautiful little hardback edition is a bonus and makes it a perfect gift.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Summer Crossing is the fairly newly discovered first novel by Truman Capote. It's taken from four school notebooks and various additional notes in the New York Public Library's Truman Capote Collection. Various experts and editors have then put it all together, and the part that doesn't quite agree with me, edited it and added parts where it was illegible. Now this is a double edged sword. The negative is that you don't know if Capote ever wanted this story read and it partly isn't a story he totally read or finished (thankfully no one has tried to finish his final novel) and has been fiddled with. The positive is that we get to see more of his work and with this novel in particular we get to see what may have been the beginnings of Holly Golightly forming and Breakfast at Tiffany's.
Summer Crossing is a tale of first love. Grady's parents leave her in New York City alone (her sister Apple lives not to far away but is easy to elude and avoid) aged only eighteen. Grady is a bit of a minx. Having previously fallen for her fathers married friend she has actually tried to seduce him when his wife was pregnant whilst also being his wife's closest friend during her pregnancy. You can tell we have quite a feisty heroine pretty much from the start especially with the conversations with her mother as she stubbornly refuses to go away on a cruise with her or be paraded at any dances where she might meet a potential match.
As we find out Grady is already in love, though not with the sort of society boy her parents would wish for. Clyde is a Jewish Park Attendant who she is immediately attracted and devoted too. What follows is a hedonistic summer where drink and drugs are mixed with early freedom and desire proving a tragic, dangerous and dramatic mix. I loved Grady as a character I thought she was absolutely fantastic. I just didn't feel I knew any of the other characters really and in that sense you could tell it was an unfinished work and possibly the vague plotting of Holly Golightly.
I kind of wish I had read Breakfast at Tiffany's after this. Not because I was disappointed or didn't like Summer Crossing more that it just never quite matched up. I do get the feeling that if Capote had finished it he would have made it a lot longer, taking more time to introduce some of the characters and their personalities and back stories. I also would have liked to have known if the end is the ending he chose (quite possibly as it's quite shocking and dramatic) or if he had further plans for Grady who is a wonderful, wonderful character. I could have read a lot more about her and her adventures in the past and possibly beyond the book.
All in all I would say if you loved Breakfast at Tiffany's or are a die hard Capote fan then this is a book you wont want to miss out on. For everyone else it's a good read but on which you might find you drift away from as you turn the page.
Summer Crossing is a tale of first love. Grady's parents leave her in New York City alone (her sister Apple lives not to far away but is easy to elude and avoid) aged only eighteen. Grady is a bit of a minx. Having previously fallen for her fathers married friend she has actually tried to seduce him when his wife was pregnant whilst also being his wife's closest friend during her pregnancy. You can tell we have quite a feisty heroine pretty much from the start especially with the conversations with her mother as she stubbornly refuses to go away on a cruise with her or be paraded at any dances where she might meet a potential match.
As we find out Grady is already in love, though not with the sort of society boy her parents would wish for. Clyde is a Jewish Park Attendant who she is immediately attracted and devoted too. What follows is a hedonistic summer where drink and drugs are mixed with early freedom and desire proving a tragic, dangerous and dramatic mix. I loved Grady as a character I thought she was absolutely fantastic. I just didn't feel I knew any of the other characters really and in that sense you could tell it was an unfinished work and possibly the vague plotting of Holly Golightly.
I kind of wish I had read Breakfast at Tiffany's after this. Not because I was disappointed or didn't like Summer Crossing more that it just never quite matched up. I do get the feeling that if Capote had finished it he would have made it a lot longer, taking more time to introduce some of the characters and their personalities and back stories. I also would have liked to have known if the end is the ending he chose (quite possibly as it's quite shocking and dramatic) or if he had further plans for Grady who is a wonderful, wonderful character. I could have read a lot more about her and her adventures in the past and possibly beyond the book.
All in all I would say if you loved Breakfast at Tiffany's or are a die hard Capote fan then this is a book you wont want to miss out on. For everyone else it's a good read but on which you might find you drift away from as you turn the page.
8 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
What does an unsuccessful draft of a fine author's work look like? If that question interests you, read Summer Crossing. If the question doesn't, you can skip this novel.
I doubt if this book would have been published except that the story contains bits and pieces of themes that are powerfully developed in Breakfast at Tiffany's, also by Mr. Capote.
When Truman Capote found his writing voice, it was in writing about his own life and the people he knew.
Summer Crossing comes across, by comparison, as a writing exercise disconnected from his personal experience that has serious problems in its conception and implementation.
So what's the story?
A rich young New York socialite, Grady McNeil, is left inexplicably behind and unchaperoned for the summer while her parents shop their way through Europe. In the best tradition of young people first on their own, Grady soon finds a way to break all the bounds of her former life. She craves the reality of this new life . . . but finds it brings complications she hadn't really expected.
With that set up, one would expect a fine short story . . . but Mr. Capote didn't yet have the skill to turn the premise into a novel. Later, he would.
Should the book have been salvaged and made available? I think so.
Should you read it? Probably not.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
