''Farewell Summer'' is a novel by American writer

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery fictio ...

, published on October 17, 2006. It was his last novel released in his lifetime. It is a sequel to his 1957 novel ''

Dandelion Wine ''Dandelion Wine'' is a 1957 novel by Ray Bradbury set in the summer of 1928 in the fictional town of Green Town, Illinois, based upon Bradbury's childhood home of Waukegan, Illinois. The novel developed from the short story "Dandelion Wine", wh ...

'', and is set during an

Indian summer An Indian summer is a period of unseasonably warm, dry weather that sometimes occurs in autumn in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. Several sources describe a true Indian summer as not occurring until after the first frost, or more s ...

in October 1929. The story concerns a mock war between the young and the old in Green Town, Illinois, and the sexual awakening of Doug Spaulding as he turns 14. With '' Something Wicked This Way Comes'', they form a trilogy of novels inspired by Bradbury's childhood in

Waukegan, Illinois ''(Fortress or Trading Post)'' , image_flag = , image_seal = , blank_emblem_size = 150 , blank_emblem_type = Logo , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivisi ...

. The first chapter, also titled ''Farewell Summer'', appeared in '' The Stories of Ray Bradbury'' in 1980. Jonathan R. Eller and William F. Touponce discuss a draft of the unpublished novel in some detail in their book, ''Ray Bradbury: The Life of Fiction'' (2004). ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' called the novel a "poignant, wise but slight 'extension' of the indefatigable Bradbury's semiautobiographical ''

''" and concluded, "Bradbury's mature but fresh return to his beloved early writing conveys a depth of feeling." '' Kirkus Reviews'' found it "a thin work, heavily reliant on dialogue, but one that serves as an intriguing coda to one of Bradbury's classics." ''

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is av ...

'' said, "A touching meditation on memories, aging, and the endless cycle of birth and death, and a fitting capstone, perhaps, to a brilliant career."

History

In the afterword to ''Farewell Summer'', Bradbury ... contends that the novel was actually intended to follow what became the ''Dandelion Wine'' story arc as a complete book tentatively titled ''Summer Morning, Summer Night''. "When I delivered it to my publishers they said, 'My God, this is much too long. Why don't we publish the first 90,000 words as a novel and keep the second part for some future year when it is ready to be published'" (pp. 207–208).

References

External links

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Dust jacket of ''Farewell Summer''
Novels by Ray Bradbury 2006 American novels American autobiographical novels Sequel novels Novels set in Illinois Fiction set in 1929 Waukegan, Illinois {{2000s-autobio-novel-stub