How to Survive a Summer

A Novel

De: Nick White

Narrado por: Michael Crouch

**Named One of Book Riot’s BEST QUEER BOOKS OF 2017**

“Packed with story and drama … If Tennessee Williams’s ‘Suddenly Last Summer’ could be transposed to the 21st-century South, where queer liberation co-exists alongside the stubborn remains of fire and brimstone, it might read something like this juicy, moving hot mess of a novel.” –Tim Murphy, The Washington Post

A searing debut novel centering around a gay-to-straight conversion camp in Mississippi and a man's reckoning with the trauma he faced there as a teen.

Camp Levi, nestled in the Mississippi countryside, is designed to “cure” young teenage boys of their budding homosexuality. Will Dillard, a midwestern graduate student, spent a summer at the camp as a teenager, and has since tried to erase the experience from his mind. But when a fellow student alerts him that a slasher movie based on the camp is being released, he is forced to confront his troubled history and possible culpability in the death of a fellow camper.

As past and present are woven together, Will recounts his “rehabilitation,” eventually returning to the abandoned campgrounds to solve the mysteries of that pivotal summer, and to reclaim his story from those who have stolen it. With a masterful confluence of sensibility and place, How to Survive a Summer is a searing, unforgettable novel that introduces an exciting new literary voice.

“Clear and moving, revealing White’s talent in evoking the complexities of the rural South.”
—Publishers Weekly

This is Mississippi

I have never read a story that speaks so deeply to the journey most LGBT people travel in the heart of the Deep South. This story is so poignant and touches on so many facets of southern living that many young people are still facing today. It’s like the author somehow wrote my biography as well as so many people I know. It’s a beautiful read and a must for any Mississippian.

Captures the Subtleties of People and Place

Novel captures the specifics of its characters and locations. Narrator's accent is perfect for it.

A story full of heart and healing

A sometimes hard-to-listen-to but deeply engrossing story of healing, acceptance and second chances. Will is the survivor of a gay conversion camp that he attended while a young boy in Texas. Because he learns that an exploitation movie is going to be made about his time at the camp, Will goes back to face his demons, in the hopes of putting his past behind him and maybe finding a future for himself. It's a real and honest journey.

A note about the narrator, Mr. Crouch. While listening to him, you forget that you are listening to ONE man read these VERY unique and different characters. His characters are so distinct, so easily identifiable and relatable...we feel as though we are in the same room, uneasily eavesdropping on conversations and inner monologues. Mr. Crouch puts us in rooms in which we have no business being. He's amazing, engrossing and talented! I'd love for him to narrate my own life story--if only it were interesting enough. Y'all should check out some of his other work, too.

how to integrate your trauma

The protagonist considers how a traumatic summer relates to his family history as well as his future. enjoyable performance.

I literally could not get through it!

What did you like best about How to Survive a Summer? What did you like least?

The narrator.

Has How to Survive a Summer turned you off from other books in this genre?

The stream of consciousness was absolutely impossible to follow.

What about Michael Crouch’s performance did you like?

Narration was good.

Do you think How to Survive a Summer needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

I hope not. Not until the author figures out what story they are trying to tell.