The Summer Friend

A Memoir

By: Charles McGrath

Narrated by: Charles McGrath

Alive with the intoxicating magic of summer in New England, former editor of the New York Times Book Review Charles McGrath’s evocative memoir looks back at that sun-soaked season, at family, youth, and a singular bond made at a time when he thought he was beyond making friends.

“Sun-drenched and deeply touching.”—The New York Times

“Positively aches with beauty and loss.”—Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire Falls

It was early evening and a new acquaintance had come to retrieve his daughter from a play date. Instead of driving up in a minivan, he arrived by water, tacking his sailboat smartly across a squiggly channel in the marsh, throwing a rope overboard, and zipping back home, his gleeful daughter riding in the wake. Who knew you could do such a thing? And how could you resist befriending a man such as that?

Over the course of this rich memoir, McGrath recalls with a gimlet eye the pleasures of summers past: amateur lobstering, 9-hole golf, family costume charades, bridge-jumping, and a friendship forged between two men from different backgrounds who came together late in life.

Recounting the vagaries of summer with such precision and warmth—peeling long strips of sunburnt skin from your shoulder as if “shuffling off your own cocoon,” the outdoor shower curtain blowing open in the breeze, an M80 firework in the mailbox—The Summer Friend is simultaneously a potent evocation of the rhythms and rituals of summer and a stirring remembrance of a friend found and then lost.

©2022 Charles McGrath (P)2022 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Sun-drenched and deeply touching...I loved McGrath’s snapshots of the dilapidated nine-hole courses he likes to play on, which he describes with a deadpan relish reminiscent of Bill Bryson… McGrath eulogizes his summer friend in the very first chapter, then brings him to life on the subsequent pages with such vividness and palpable affection that the reader forgets his fate for long stretches ... When the end finally comes, in a chapter simply called ‘Dying,’ it lands like a gut punch…. McGrath’s book is an act of love, a fitting tribute to his old friend and a poignant reminder to all of us to squeeze every last drop out of the summers that remain.”—Tom Perrotta, The New York Times

"[An] affecting memoir...The book’s prevailing spirit is wholly life-affirming. It is in the fullness with which things large and small are rendered...in all their humorous specificity that makes memorable what might be called the moral of the tale—that “summer can happen almost anywhere.”—William H. Pritchard, The Wall Street Journal

“[An] ode to friendship and nostalgia...McGrath's memoir is as much about his childhood summers as it is about his summers as a grown-up, and he moves back and forth seamlessly between second person...and first person. That shift keeps the tone intimate but not overwhelmingly self-centered. These things I'm writing about, McGrath seems to say, are things we all understand... The poignancy of the final chapters is genuinely touching. Anyone who has lost a friend will understand.”—Laurie Hertzel, Star Tribune

Captures Summer and Male Friendship

Covering the sweet memories of past summers without being nostalgic, this book also captures adult male friendship, or at least what it can be if you are lucky. McGrath seems to be both blessed and aware that he is blessed, and this book is a tribute to his friend as much as it is a memoir of the activities they shared. The audio book's pace also captures that summer rhythm of days moving more slowly but the season going by too fast. I enjoyed it very much.

Best book in sometime

Parallels to one’s life can be readily found in this book. Do not find yourself surprised to choke up at the end and it is right that you do so everyone should have someone in his or her life who’s passage leaves you just a little empty. This is a very nice telling of a very nice story and should be a summer read for everyone.And for anyone who is a fan of New England this book is especially poignant

When adults play

It’s about adults’ capacity for play and the way grown men’s friendship can revolve around that. I wish it also talked about the interplay between work and play and the rhythms of that during the summers.

Ratings scale:
***** Landmark read. Will never forget it. Possibly life changing. Stands
apart from everything else in its category. Will always have a copy to keep on my shelf and give away. Might organize a book group around it. Maybe 10% of the books I finish.
**** Excellent. Very glad I read it—and you should, too! Pretty much everybody who cares about the things I care about will enjoy and be glad they read it. 20-30% of books I finish.
***Good. Definitely worth reading. I might recommend if there’s a particular fit with your tastes.
** not sure why I finished this. Would not recommend. But also don’t regret it.
* disliked. Maybe did not finish.

My favorite book this year

This is a wonderful book about growing up, about wonderful summers, and about beautiful friendships. I thank Mr McGrath for making me laugh, making me cry, and making me remember so many of my own fond childhood memories. Now I am inspired to live the rest of my summers, whatever ones God grants me, like I did when I was a carefree child and I'm also inspired to make sure that my children and grandchildren have very fond memories and experiences like I have had.

Nothing short of wonderful.

This fine work brings back fond memories of my own youth which is now six decades ago. It should be shared with family and friends, hopefully as they wiggle their toes in the sand.