Farewell Summer

Farewell Summer

by Ray Bradbury

Narrated by Robert Fass

Unabridged — 3 hours, 19 minutes

Farewell Summer

Farewell Summer

by Ray Bradbury

Narrated by Robert Fass

Unabridged — 3 hours, 19 minutes

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Overview

The master of American fiction returns to the territory of his beloved classic, Dandelion Wine-a sequel 50 years in the making

Some summers refuse to end . . .

October 1st, the end of summer. The air is still warm, but fall is in the air. Thirteen-year-old Douglas Spaulding, his younger brother Tom, and their friends do their best to take advantage of these last warm days, rampaging through the ravine, tormenting the girls . . . and declaring war on the old men who run Green Town, IL. For the boys know that Colonel Quartermain and his cohorts want nothing more than to force them to put away their wild ways, to settle down, to grow up. If only, the boys believe, they could stop the clock atop the courthouse building. Then, surely, they could hold onto the last days of summer . . . and their youth.

But the old men were young once, too. And Quartermain, crusty old guardian of the school board and town curfew, is bent on teaching the boys a lesson. What he doesn't know is that before the last leaf turns, the boys will give him a gift: they will teach him the importance of not being afraid of letting go.


Editorial Reviews

Ray Bradbury's semi-autobiographical novel Dandelion Wine was written in "patches" from 1946 to its 1957 publication. This "extension," arriving almost 50 years later, might be viewed as a fitting conclusion to that intermittent process. Readers who grew up sharing up the boyhood of Douglas Spaulding can now cast nostalgic eyes back on his maturation and on a courthouse clock that refuses to stand still.... A masterpiece revisited and completed.

Publishers Weekly

This poignant, wise but slight "extension" of the indefatigable Bradbury's semiautobiographical Dandelion Wine picks up the story of 12-year-old Douglas Spaulding in October of 1928, when the warmth of summer still clings to Green Town, Ill. As in his episodic 1957 novel, Bradbury evokes the rhythms of a long-gone smalltown America with short, swift chapters that build to a lyrical meditation on aging and death. Playing at war, the imaginative Douglas and his friends target the town's elderly men, and the outraged 81-year-old bachelor Calvin C. Quartermain attempts to organize a counterattack against the boys' mischief. Rebelling against their elders-and the specter of age and death-Douglas and his gang steal the old men's chess pieces before deciding that Time, as embodied by the courthouse clock, is their true nemesis. The story turns on a gift of birthday cake that triggers Douglas and Quartermain's mutual recognition: "He had seen himself peer forth from the boy's eyes." Soon thereafter, Douglas's first kiss and new, acute awareness of girls serves as the harbinger of his inevitable adulthood. Bradbury's mature but fresh return to his beloved early writing conveys a depth of feeling. Look for a Q&A with Bradbury in the Aug. 21 issue. (Oct.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

A follow-up to Bradbury's 1957 novel, Dandelion Wine, this Tom Sawyer-meets-Peter Pan novella is creepier than the first book but retains the elegiac tone and lovely descriptions of 1920s boyhood. In the author's note, Bradbury says he had planned to publish Farewell Summer as part of Dandelion Wine, and it works best as an extension of that book, giving more plot and substance to what was mainly a collection of reminiscences. Doug and Tom, the brothers from Dandelion Wine, have gathered together an army of neighborhood boys. They plan to wage war against some of the town's old men, believing that if they win, they will never have to grow up. They try various tactics-fasting, stealing the old men's chess pieces, destroying the town clock-but ultimately, of course, there is nothing to be done, and time moves pitilessly on. A sequel nearly 50 years in the making will surely find interested readers. Recommended for all public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 6/15/06.]-Jenne Bergstrom, San Diego Cty. Lib. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Bradbury has yet another lesson to share about growing up and growing old. It's Oct. 1, and the boys of summer are fighting one final battle. Brothers Doug and Tom Spaulding are squeezing the last bit of their freedom out of every day, but school is upon them. Apart from time and the change of season, their primary enemy is Calvin Quartermain, gray-haired member of the school board. And then, with one burst of gunfire from a cap pistol, Doug finds himself the leader of a revolution. For the boys and their sidekicks, it's a revolution against growing up. For the opposition, it's a war against growing old. Skirmishes begin, with both sides suffering casualties in one form or another. Doug and curmudgeonly Quartermain are decades apart in age, but they have a common heritage. The small-town setting is really just window-dressing for the two main characters. The Civil War looms large in this story, framing each section, with Doug carrying the bulk of the narrative. Like Peter Pan, he is the boy who doesn't want to grow old. He's haunted by strange dreams, feelings he does not understand. In his mind, all he can do is lash out at the world. For Quartermain, the battle of wits is a challenge to his manhood. He has the most to lose. In an afterword, Bradbury reveals that this novel was originally part of Dandelion Wine (1957). There's a young boy inside every old man, and Bradbury is no exception. A thin work, heavily reliant on dialogue, but one that serves as an intriguing coda to one of Bradbury's classics.

From the Publisher

[B]eautiful imagery and well-crafted prose.” — Chicago Sun-Times

“An intriguing coda to one of Bradbury’s classics. ” — Kirkus Reviews

“Creepier than [Dandelion Wine] but retains the elegiac tone and lovely descriptions of 1920s boyhood.” — Library Journal

“A touching meditation on memories, aging, and the endless cycle of birth and death.” — Booklist

“Poignant, wise...Bradbury’s mature but fresh return to his beloved early writing conveys a depth of feeling.” — Publishers Weekly

“Bradbury remains a master of inspired storytelling . . . The long-awaited, rewarding conclusion to an American classic.” — Rocky Mountain News

Chicago Sun-Times

[B]eautiful imagery and well-crafted prose.

Booklist

A touching meditation on memories, aging, and the endless cycle of birth and death.

Rocky Mountain News

Bradbury remains a master of inspired storytelling . . . The long-awaited, rewarding conclusion to an American classic.

Booklist

A touching meditation on memories, aging, and the endless cycle of birth and death.

Chicago Sun-Times

[B]eautiful imagery and well-crafted prose.

JUN/JUL 07 - AudioFile

Ray Bradbury is one of America's great science fiction writers, and FAREWELL SUMMER is the relatively brief but highly enjoyable sequel to his 1957 novel, DANDELION WINE. The story focuses upon a mock war between the young and the old in Green Town, Illinois, as well as the sexual awakening of young Doug Spaulding. Robert Fass brings the story to life, using a enlivening mix of emotion and enthusiasm that helps the book seemingly fly by. Fass's distinct characterizations are particularly memorable, especially young Spaulding, who focuses his energies on the town elders and on old man Quartermain, who tries to teach Spaulding and his friends a lesson, only to discover that he may learn more than they do. D.J.S. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID: 2940173122865
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date: 07/28/2020
Edition description: Unabridged
Sales rank: 1,021,787

Read an Excerpt

Farewell Summer LP


By Ray Bradbury

HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Copyright © 2007 Ray Bradbury
All right reserved.

ISBN: 9780061470950

Chapter One

There are those days which seem a taking in of breath which, held, suspends the whole earth in its waiting. Some summers refuse to end.

So along the road those flowers spread that, when touched, give down a shower of autumn rust. By every path it looks as if a ruined circus had passed and loosed a trail of ancient iron at every turning of a wheel. The rust was laid out everywhere, strewn under trees and by riverbanks and near the tracks themselves where once a locomotive had gone but went no more. So flowered flakes and railroad track together turned to moulderings upon the rim of autumn.

"Look, Doug," said Grandpa, driving into town from the farm. Behind them in the Kissel Kar were six large pumpkins picked fresh from the patch. "See those flowers?"

"Yes, sir."

"Farewell summer, Doug. That's the name of those flowers. Feel the air? August come back. Farewell summer."

"Boy," said Doug, "that's a sad name."

Grandma stepped into her pantry and felt the wind blowing from the west. The yeast was rising in the bowl, a sumptuous head, the head of an alien rising from the yield of other years. She touched the swell beneath the muslin cap. It was the earth on the morn before the arrival of Adam. It was the mornafter the marriage of Eve to that stranger in the garden bed.

Grandma looked out the window at the way the sunlight lay across the yard and filled the apple trees with gold and echoed the same words:

"Farewell summer. Here it is, October 1st. Temperature's 82. Season just can't let go. The dogs are out under the trees. The leaves won't turn. A body would like to cry and laughs instead. Get up to the attic, Doug, and let the mad maiden aunt out of the secret room."

"Is there a mad maiden aunt in the attic?" asked Doug.

"No, but there should be."

Clouds passed over the lawn. And when the sun came out, in the pantry, Grandma almost whispered, Summer, farewell.

On the front porch, Doug stood beside his grandfather, hoping to borrow some of that far sight, beyond the hills, some of the wanting to cry, some of the ancient joy. The smell of pipe tobacco and Tiger shaving tonic had to suffice. A top spun in his chest, now light, now dark, now moving his tongue with laughter, now filling his eyes with salt water.

He surveyed the lake of grass below, all the dandelions gone, a touch of rust in the trees, and the smell of Egypt blowing from the far east.

"Think I'll go eat me a doughnut and take me a nap," Doug said.



Continues...

Excerpted from Farewell Summer LP by Ray Bradbury Copyright © 2007 by Ray Bradbury. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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