Synopses & Reviews
A charming, touching and funny novel of the Forties in which a young boy finds an unusual -- and unwilling -- role model.
In 1940, 12-year-old Joey Margolis decides to focus his attention on one person: Charlie Banks, the talented young third baseman for the New York Giants. Joey is a wiseguy kid, and pretends to be dying so Charlie will come and visit him. At first the player wants nothing to do with the kid, who's a liar and a fake, but after time he's tricked, cajoled and charmed into being what he never wanted to be: a role model for another human being who needs him.
Synopsis
A contemporary American classic--a poignant and hilarious tale of baseball, hero worship, eccentric behavior, and unlikely friendship
Last Days of Summer is the story of Joey Margolis, neighborhood punching bag, growing up goofy and mostly fatherless in Brooklyn in the early 1940s. A boy looking for a hero, Joey decides to latch on to Charlie Banks, the all-star third basemen for the New York Giants. But Joey's chosen champion doesn't exactly welcome the extreme attention of a persistent young fan with an overactive imagination. Then again, this strange, needy kid might be exactly what Banks needs.
About the Author
Steve Kluger has written extensively on subjects as far-ranging as World War II, rock 'n' roll, and the Titanic, and as close to the heart as baseball and the Boston Red Sox. He lives in Santa Monica, California.