BOOK REVIEW: "Sag Harbor" by Colson Whitehead

BOOK REVIEW: "Sag Harbor" by Colson Whitehead (2009)

I read "Sag Harbor" rather swiftly in January. It was and is an easy read. It's about a kid who spent his summers on Sag Harbor, New York. Colson Whitehead writes a nice trip down memory lane circa the 80s. This is the first book that I've read by Whitehead. Though I'm afraid that I may have began reading his first book "The Intuitionist", but never finished it. I recall the title of that one, but I don't recall the plot and that probably means that I never read it.

"Sag Harbor" is the first reading selection for my reading group for 2010. Nice start. I'm afraid to write much more about this title because I surely don't want to give away meaningful parts of the novel for those who have not read it. Let's just say it full of teenage boy antics, but not in that 'crazy-white-boy' kind of way. There is no big dramatic ending where someone commits suicide. Though this book could use a meaty middle or ending, in my opinion.

I am curious to know, though, that sense this book is sort of a relic of Whitehead's life, how much are the parents in the book similar to his parents?

Check out more on "Sag Harbor":

• The New York Times Book Review of "Sag Harbor" by Toure'
• VIDEO: Colson Whitehead talks about Sag Harbor, the book and the city
• AUDIO INTERVIEW: Colson Whitehead on "On Point with Tom Ashbrook"