Sag Harbor

A Novel

By: Colson Whitehead

Narrated by: Mirron Willis

Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

The warm, funny, and supremely original new novel from one of the most acclaimed writers in America

The year is 1985. Benji Cooper is one of the only black students at an elite prep school in Manhattan. He spends his falls and winters going to roller-disco bar mitzvahs, playing too much Dungeons and Dragons, and trying to catch glimpses of nudity on late-night cable TV. After a tragic mishap on his first day of high school, when Benji reveals his deep enthusiasm for the horror movie magazine Fangoria, his social doom is sealed for the next four years.

But every summer, Benji escapes to the Hamptons, to Sag Harbor, where a small community of African American professionals have built a world of their own. Because their parents come out only on weekends, he and his friends are left to their own devices for three glorious months. And although he's just as confused about this all-black refuge as he is about the white world he negotiates the rest of the year, he thinks that maybe this summer things will be different. If all goes according to plan, that is.

There will be trials and tribulations, of course. There will be complicated new handshakes to fumble through, and state-of-the-art profanity to master. He will be tested by contests big and small, by his misshapen haircut (which seems to have a will of its own), by the New Coke Tragedy of '85, and by his secret Lite FM addiction. But maybe, with a little luck, things will turn out differently this summer.

In this deeply affectionate and fiercely funny coming-of-age novel, Whitehead, using the perpetual mortification of teenage existence and the desperate quest for reinvention, lithely probes the elusive nature of identity, both personal and communal.

©2009 Colson Whitehead (P)2009 Random House

Critic reviews

"No novelist writing today is more engaging and entertaining when it comes to questions of race, class, and commercial culture than Colson Whitehead." ( USA Today)

Well written

Captures snapshot of African American summer house life. Accurate and authentic. Highly relatable to my experience.

nostalgic

As a New Yorker, my hubby kept laughing at Whitehead's comedic memoires of his adolescence. This book is about a teenager finding himself, and I think that every kid can relate - whether black, white, rich or poor, because aside from the rich black teenager portrayed in the book, the novel deals with decisions, love, and the hardships of adolescence.

WONDERFUL

I couldn’t stop listening. Whitehead’s details and descriptions were so interesting and spot on! I loved the narrator’s voice.

Excellent Storytelling, Excellent Reading/Performance

Everything about this coming of age tale was well done, and fitting for this consecutive Pulitzer Prize winning author. And Mirron Willis’ voice and reading were more than enriching. This is one of those audio recordings that makes the book even better. Would live to see this performed on stage.

A Slice of Black Americana

I love this story! Its a slice of Black Americana and coming of age.

It takes place during the summer in the Black Hamptons neighborhood of Sag Harbor. A man looks back on his boyhood and the rites of passage that took place in 1985.

I would love to bring up boys in this type of environment with a close community, riding bikes everywhere and understanding their privilege within a Black neighborhood.

Its full of so many wonderful moments, especially sneaking the cokes!

:)

Needs to have a series made

This book is refreshing. Why?, because it speaks on the experiences, life questions, and the relationships between growing Black male youths. The voices of which and the story of which I’ve never seen and is very much needed to re-humanize Black folks. It shows the comparable angst of youth, the fears, haunts, yearnings,..etc. to that of any other racial group …especially white folks. We are certainly not any different only treated and stereotyped as such. This was a beautiful and thoughtful narrative. So refreshing from the standard slave narratives and remakes that seem the only wanted and Socially acceptable stories that are wanted to tell. Yes! A series. I loved this book.

Really disappointing

I was really excited about this book before listening but it was mostly naval gazing. It might have been better with a different narrator.

Not For Children

This book can to me through Audible Kids - I most definitely do not think this is a children's selection. While the book is good, there are references to drinking & sex that are not
suitable for kids.

Disappointing

I have really liked other books by Whitehead, but I could not get through this meandering reminiscence. It's obviously a period which has stayed with him in great detail, but I needed something to happen. His first novel was great though.

Nothing happens!

I listened to almost half the book waiting for the plot to take off. Finally lost interest!