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76th out of 103 books
—
151 voters
The Last Days of Summer
by
Steve Kluger (Goodreads Author)
May 15, 1940 Charlie Banks
New York Giants
Polo Grounds, New York
Dear Mr. Banks:
I am a 12-year-old boy and I am dying from malaria. Please hit a home run for me because I don't think I will be around much longer.
Your friend,
Joey Margolis
Dear Kid:
Last week it was the plague. Now it's malaria. What do I look - stupid to you? You're lucky I don't send somebody over there to tap...more
New York Giants
Polo Grounds, New York
Dear Mr. Banks:
I am a 12-year-old boy and I am dying from malaria. Please hit a home run for me because I don't think I will be around much longer.
Your friend,
Joey Margolis
Dear Kid:
Last week it was the plague. Now it's malaria. What do I look - stupid to you? You're lucky I don't send somebody over there to tap...more
Paperback, 368 pages
Published
April 6th 1999
by Harper Perennial
(first published 1998)
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Nov 09, 2007
Laura
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
november2007,
randomfiction
I just stumbled on this in the library, and saw it's in a unique form (letters and such), which I'm loving lately. I just learned this is called an "epistolary novel" and stealing from a review below, I know why I am so drawn to this format. "...are hard to pull off. By ditching conventional plot structure, the writer focuses all the attention on his characters." As I've said before, I'll pick good characters over a good plot if I have to choose. So I guess when the focus is totally on that, I g...more
Dec 12, 2007
Lady Ozma
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Fiction lovers, baseball fans, history (more current) fans
Shelves:
2007
The Last Days fo Summer by Steve Kluger is not the sort of book I would normally pick up and buy to read. You can probably fill my knowledge of baseball on the page under the title. However, a good friend recommended this to me and even went as far as to get me a copy.
I could not put the book down. It was excellent and captured my mind and my heart as I followed through roughly two years in the characters lives.
Seldom do characters come so alive as they do in this book. I found myself laughing a...more
I could not put the book down. It was excellent and captured my mind and my heart as I followed through roughly two years in the characters lives.
Seldom do characters come so alive as they do in this book. I found myself laughing a...more
Oh man.
I laughed, a lot. Then at the end I cried. Seriously. A lot of books SAY that they’ll make you laugh and cry, but the books that have made me laugh out loud I could count on one hand… and I can only think of one other book that made me cry. The Catalpa Tree by Denyse Devlin (incredible book, by the way).
It's an epistolary novel, written through letters, telegrams, transcripts of sessions with his therapist, newspaper articles, etc. A story of a Jewish kid in Brooklyn during WWII - Joey Ma...more
I laughed, a lot. Then at the end I cried. Seriously. A lot of books SAY that they’ll make you laugh and cry, but the books that have made me laugh out loud I could count on one hand… and I can only think of one other book that made me cry. The Catalpa Tree by Denyse Devlin (incredible book, by the way).
It's an epistolary novel, written through letters, telegrams, transcripts of sessions with his therapist, newspaper articles, etc. A story of a Jewish kid in Brooklyn during WWII - Joey Ma...more
Epistolary novels are hard to pull off. By ditching conventional plot structure, the writer focuses all the attention on his characters. If the writer doesn't get the voices just right, readers lose interest in the story being told.
Luckily, Kluger is dead solid perfect in The Last Days of Summer. Whether we're hearing precocious 12 year-old Joey Margolis or irascible New York Giants third baseman Charlie Banks or even any of the myriad other voices we're a party to, it just sounds right, and con...more
Luckily, Kluger is dead solid perfect in The Last Days of Summer. Whether we're hearing precocious 12 year-old Joey Margolis or irascible New York Giants third baseman Charlie Banks or even any of the myriad other voices we're a party to, it just sounds right, and con...more
I have no idea how I stumbled across this book, but it turned up in my library reserve somehow so I figured I'd give it a shot. Turns out it's written entirely in letters. Yes, yes, I know all books are written with letters - 'badabadabada biiiing.' But seriously, this book is written using letters (correspondence) between the various characters. The format makes for a quick and interesting read.
Jewish boy in Brooklyn writes letters. Befriends baseball star. Baseball star ships off to world war...more
Jewish boy in Brooklyn writes letters. Befriends baseball star. Baseball star ships off to world war...more
An epistolary novel about a 12-year-old Jewish kid from Brooklyn who becomes best friends with a star baseball player in the early 1940s. This is utter pap, but…well, okay, I’m embarrassed to admit that I quite liked it. Joey is one of those impossibly clever and erudite 12-year-olds, and the premise is ridiculous—not just the becoming-best-friends-with-a-ballplayer part, but the fact that Joey and Charlie, the New York Giants’ 3rd baseman, also go on to meet President Roosevelt, Humphrey Bogart...more
Wow, I loved this book. Joey Margolis, a pre-teenager in Brooklyn in 1940 with a boatload of chutzpah befriends the star third-baseman of the New York Giants, among other amazing things. Joey is dealt a crappy hand to play in part by his schmuck of a father, but leads an amazing life anyway.
There are a half-dozen movies about baseball that always make me well up in tears, and now there's one baseball book that does the same thing. Maybe it's because they're not really about baseball. I would rec...more
There are a half-dozen movies about baseball that always make me well up in tears, and now there's one baseball book that does the same thing. Maybe it's because they're not really about baseball. I would rec...more
After reading "Last Days of Summer", it is safe to say I was profoundly moved. How Kluger was able to establish such dynamic characters, and even more importantly, such a beautiful and genuine and beautiful relationship between Charlie and Joey--is nothing short of a work of art. There is so much of this book to like and so little not to. As a reader, I could not help but feel for Joey--a kid who is riddiculed, without a fatherly influence, and often misunderstood my his teacher. At the same tim...more
This adult-YA crossover was by far the most enjoyable read of the semester. This book was hilarious. The intelligence and imagination found within the character Joey Margolis was just astonishing. How many 12 year olds know to write to the Bureau of Vital Statistics to find the address of a professional baseball player? The intelligence Joey shows in the letters to baseball great Charlie Banks makes for hilarious conversations. His creativity is just incredible. The things he says when visiting...more
I don't like sports. I don't really understand sports. In fact, if sports were my last hope for survival on a wasting planet, I would have to just give up and die with the rest of the athletically-challenged population. So why I picked up a book centered around baseball (in my opinion the second-most boring sport to golf) is beyond me, but it turned out to be a pretty good purchase.
It's not a new concept - fatherless, smart-aleck boy gains begrudging mentor who changes his life forever - but the...more
It's not a new concept - fatherless, smart-aleck boy gains begrudging mentor who changes his life forever - but the...more
I really liked this book it made me laugh out loud at times.
"Not Ethiopia where zebras eat antelope legs and never dance." And what he said after
The end really did me in, for a while i kept putting the book off trying to save myself from what was coming. It didn't work because I needed so badly to finish it. I've only read two books from Steve Kluger but i'm looking forward to finding more of his books.
Charlie Banks
New York Giants
Polo Grounds,NY
Dear Mr. Banks:
I am a 12 year old boy and i am dyi...more
"Not Ethiopia where zebras eat antelope legs and never dance." And what he said after
The end really did me in, for a while i kept putting the book off trying to save myself from what was coming. It didn't work because I needed so badly to finish it. I've only read two books from Steve Kluger but i'm looking forward to finding more of his books.
Charlie Banks
New York Giants
Polo Grounds,NY
Dear Mr. Banks:
I am a 12 year old boy and i am dyi...more
This book was one of my all-time favorites. It starts out with young Joey Margolis, a boy who lives in early '40's Brooklyn. He starts writing letters to his much-needed hero: Charlie, after searching for for his address for a long time. What started out as an annoying 10-year-old sending fan-mail turned into an unbreakable bond between two "brothers" who have never met. Charlie starts to think of Joey as his son, his protectiveness is so strong. When Charlie goes away for to fight in the war, h...more
I love a good book sale. I love to chat with other readers and find gems among the fodder at the suggestion of strangers. That's how I found Last Days of Summer by Steve Kluger. I would never have chosen this book--sports stories usually aren't my thing--but I was standing in line waiting to pay for my two-foot stack at the library's $1 book sale this spring when the woman wearing purple scrubs in front of me picked it up from a table, asked me if I'd read it, and told me it was one of her favor...more
By sheer chance, I picked this book up in my school library -- and couldn't put it down. I think I read at least two hundred pages before I told myself I had to go do other things. I finished it the next morning.
I've been in a dry spell of reading lately, either because I haven't found the right books or I've just had trouble concentrating. But Last Days of Summer reeled me right in. It's not normally a subject I'd be interested in: I tend to avoid anything to do with sports, and don't go toward...more
I've been in a dry spell of reading lately, either because I haven't found the right books or I've just had trouble concentrating. But Last Days of Summer reeled me right in. It's not normally a subject I'd be interested in: I tend to avoid anything to do with sports, and don't go toward...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
The first Steve Kluger I read, and still my favorite. He uses the same epistolary/scrapbook style as My Most Excellent Year.
Joey Margolis is the only Jewish kid and Giants fan in his Brooklyn neighborhood. With an absent father and working mother, Joey has a lot of free time to devote to letter writing. He frequently corresponds with President Roosevelt’s press secretary about the escalating situation in Europe. “Joey, Holland is of no practical use to the Germans and is therefore all but imperv...more
Joey Margolis is the only Jewish kid and Giants fan in his Brooklyn neighborhood. With an absent father and working mother, Joey has a lot of free time to devote to letter writing. He frequently corresponds with President Roosevelt’s press secretary about the escalating situation in Europe. “Joey, Holland is of no practical use to the Germans and is therefore all but imperv...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Rachel and I took turns reading this book out loud as we drove across NY a few summers ago. It made the trip go quickly and we laughed so hard that I am amazed we stayed on the road!
This story is about Joey Margolis, a Jewish boy who is growing up in a "tough" Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn during WWII era. Joey loves baseball and he fixates on Charlie Banks - a player for the NY Giants - to write to. The entire book is a series of letters between the boy and the man - as well as a few other f...more
This story is about Joey Margolis, a Jewish boy who is growing up in a "tough" Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn during WWII era. Joey loves baseball and he fixates on Charlie Banks - a player for the NY Giants - to write to. The entire book is a series of letters between the boy and the man - as well as a few other f...more
I just read this book for the second time, and I enjoyed it just as much as I remembered (partly because it's a great book, and partly because my memory stinks). It is the story of a smart aleck Jewish 12-year-old named Joey who lives with his mother and aunt in Brooklyn in the early 1940's (but hates the Brooklyn Dodgers). We understand that this kid is special from the get-go, when we see he's getting letters written back to him from President Roosevelt's press secretary. Joey's father has rem...more
I laughed, and I laughed, and I laughed. Even knowing fairly early in the book that it was heading for a sad ending (and, trust me, this is not a plot give away--if you don't see it, then you're blind) didn't detract from all the humor. It's like a 1930's or 40's wisecracking moving. Maybe even some of those old Andy Hardy or (worse yet) Shirley Temple movies. It's epistolary, so the whole story is told through letters, and that works great for this particular story. Some of the plot is about as...more
There are so many things about this book that should have made me want to lash it to a pole and whip it good. The story is kitschy, predictable. The characters all sound similar, and it's got the kind of humor and writing style that I thought I outgrew with Meg Cabot and her Boy series (Where coincidentally, all the characters sound the same too).
And then I said "Just five minutes, asshole, and I'm going to work on my portfolio," to this book and ended up sitting there for four hours to polish o...more
And then I said "Just five minutes, asshole, and I'm going to work on my portfolio," to this book and ended up sitting there for four hours to polish o...more
The story is wonderful once I got used to it being told through letters, notes and news articles. The characters are good, too, though I don't feel that I got to know them as well as I would have in a "normal" book. I got hung up some on the misspelled words and swearing at times. If that doesn't bother you, then you may enjoy it more than me. I really got annoyed with "your" instead of "you're" throughout the entire book. I understand that Charlie was not well educated and this showed that but...more
“The Last Days of Summer” by Steve Kluger is an adult-YA crossover novel that combines baseball, World War II, and friendship all into one. The format of this novel makes for a quick and interesting read because it is written through letters, telegrams, newspaper articles, etc. These letters, telegrams, newspaper articles, etc tell a story about Joey’s life and everyone he interacts with. Growing up in Brooklyn during the 1940s after his dad left, Joey starts writing letters to a rookie, named C...more
This is the first real stand out I have read this year and it has moved straight into my top five books of all time. I laughed, I cried . . . Really, I laughed out loud so many times!
Joey is a smart-alec Jewish kid living in the Italian part of Brooklyn in the early 40s. His dad divorced his mom for a younger model and won't take Joey's phone calls. Charlie is a major league rookie to whom Joey starts writing in an attempt to get Charley to hit a home run dedicated to him so that the bullies in...more
Joey is a smart-alec Jewish kid living in the Italian part of Brooklyn in the early 40s. His dad divorced his mom for a younger model and won't take Joey's phone calls. Charlie is a major league rookie to whom Joey starts writing in an attempt to get Charley to hit a home run dedicated to him so that the bullies in...more
I have mixed feelings about this book. I really did like the story line; it is a good coming-of-age story involved a boy with an absent father and a young baseball star around the time of WWII. The baseball star has had a tough life, too. The content is delivered as a series of letters, news-clippings, notes passed between kids in class, etc. It weaves in things about politics, the war, and the baseball rivalries of the time. As much as I wanted to love it, I just didn't like the voices of the c...more
I'm not going to lie, the length of the book made it intimidating to pick up, which is why is why this review is coming a week after it was supposed to be done, but once I sat down and read President Roosevelt's response to Joey's letter I was instantly drawn in. The writing style of the book, combined of letters, newspaper clippings, telegrams and selections from interviews, fascinated me as it was one of the first times I had encountered this form of storytelling. The format was original and m...more
This book is about a boy coming into his manhood in the early years of World War II in Brooklyn, NY, and the unlikely friendship he courts with a 3rd baseman for the NY Giants. It’s a love story you can’t forget.
Did I see this book is considered a young peoples’ book? Actually suprised to hear that, but GOOD!
I loved this book as much as Steve's 'Almost Like Being In Love.' His proclivity for using 'a broad panoply of narrative voices' in the form of letters, telegrams, lists, memos, etc., I find...more
Did I see this book is considered a young peoples’ book? Actually suprised to hear that, but GOOD!
I loved this book as much as Steve's 'Almost Like Being In Love.' His proclivity for using 'a broad panoply of narrative voices' in the form of letters, telegrams, lists, memos, etc., I find...more
Just hilarious. This is the first book I've read in awhile (far too long, really) that had me continuously cracking up. It made a plane ride go by in the blink of an eye -- what more can you ask for?
Toward the middle of the novel, I did find the character interactions a trifle precious, but overall, this collection of letters, newspaper articles (some tongue-in-cheek), photos, school communiques and report cards offers a very funny, very touching window onto the life of scrappy Joey Margolis,...more
Toward the middle of the novel, I did find the character interactions a trifle precious, but overall, this collection of letters, newspaper articles (some tongue-in-cheek), photos, school communiques and report cards offers a very funny, very touching window onto the life of scrappy Joey Margolis,...more
**spoiler alert** This was one of my favorite books to read all year. I was able to relate to it so deeply. Not only did I look up to professional athletes as role models when I was a child, but to this day some people like Peyton Manning and Michael Jordan are some of the greatest leaders you could name. This book was hilarious! I loved the little jokes Joey and Charlie have back and forth, and how Joey tells Charlie to hit a home run for him so the Italian kids will stop picking on him. This b...more
How appropriate that I finished this HOF worthy book on Cooperstown's induction day this year?
This is a character-driven story lovers fantasy. The plot is often improbable and/or predictable, but in that weird kind of way that might maybe happen. You know, truth is stranger than fiction and all that.
So you don't like baseball or sports? No worries, although baseball provides a setting, it really isn't a sports book as much as it is a coming of age/friendship book told through letters and clippin...more
This is a character-driven story lovers fantasy. The plot is often improbable and/or predictable, but in that weird kind of way that might maybe happen. You know, truth is stranger than fiction and all that.
So you don't like baseball or sports? No worries, although baseball provides a setting, it really isn't a sports book as much as it is a coming of age/friendship book told through letters and clippin...more
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Steve Kluger is an author and playwright, born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1952, who grew up with only two heroes: Tom Seaver and Ethel Merman. Few were able to grasp the concept. A veteran of "Casablanca" and a graduate of "The Graduate," he has written extensively on subjects as far ranging as World War II, rock and roll, and the Titanic, and as close to the heart as baseball and the Boston Red S...more
More about Steve Kluger...
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3 trivia questions
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“Alexander Hamilton Junior High School
-- SEMESTER REPORT --
STUDENT: Joseph Margolis
TEACHER: Janet Hicks
ENGLISH: A, ARITHMETIC: A, SOCIAL STUDIES: A, SCIENCE: A, NEATNESS: A, PUNCTUALITY: A, PARTICIPATION: A, OBEDIENCE: D
Teacher's Comments:
Joseph remains a challenging student. While I appreciate his creativity, I am sure you will agree that a classroom is an inappropriate forum for a reckless imagination. There is not a shred of evidence to support his claim that Dolley Madison was a Lesbian, and even fewer grounds to explain why he even knows what the word means. Similarly, an analysis of the Constitutional Convention does not generate sufficient cause to initiate a two-hour classroom debate on what types of automobiles the Founding Fathers would have driven were they alive today. When asked on a subsequent examination, "What did Benjamin Franklin use to discover electricity?" eleven children responded "A Packard convertible". I trust you see my problem.
[...]
Janet Hicks
Parent's Comments:
As usual I am very proud of Joey's grades. I too was unaware that Dolley Madison was a Lesbian. I assumed they were all Protestants.
Thank you for writing.
Ida Margolis”
—
8 people liked it
-- SEMESTER REPORT --
STUDENT: Joseph Margolis
TEACHER: Janet Hicks
ENGLISH: A, ARITHMETIC: A, SOCIAL STUDIES: A, SCIENCE: A, NEATNESS: A, PUNCTUALITY: A, PARTICIPATION: A, OBEDIENCE: D
Teacher's Comments:
Joseph remains a challenging student. While I appreciate his creativity, I am sure you will agree that a classroom is an inappropriate forum for a reckless imagination. There is not a shred of evidence to support his claim that Dolley Madison was a Lesbian, and even fewer grounds to explain why he even knows what the word means. Similarly, an analysis of the Constitutional Convention does not generate sufficient cause to initiate a two-hour classroom debate on what types of automobiles the Founding Fathers would have driven were they alive today. When asked on a subsequent examination, "What did Benjamin Franklin use to discover electricity?" eleven children responded "A Packard convertible". I trust you see my problem.
[...]
Janet Hicks
Parent's Comments:
As usual I am very proud of Joey's grades. I too was unaware that Dolley Madison was a Lesbian. I assumed they were all Protestants.
Thank you for writing.
Ida Margolis”
“The only thing I know about Moses is him coming down from the mountain with the commandments and saying 'The good news is I got him down to 10. The bad news is adultery is still in.”
—
5 people liked it
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Jun 01, 2009 05:21am