Jun 4, 2007 — As kids we preferred indoor recess to the playground hullabaloo. As adults we're film dorks, comic book geeks and indie-music nerds. We do not, as a general rule, jet-ski. This is what we'll be reading as we try to avoid the sun.
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'Jamestown' ()
Summer Reads for Former Recess Rebels
by Glen Weldon
Jun 4, 2007 — As kids we preferred indoor recess to the playground hullabaloo. As adults we're film dorks, comic book geeks and indie-music nerds. We do not, as a general rule, jet-ski. This is what we'll be reading as we try to avoid the sun.See this
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Glen Weldon
Face it: Summer's not for everyone.
Remember recess? Summer's a lot like recess. Most kids I knew couldn't wait to get out and start jumping ropes and dodging balls in the blazing sun. But there were those of us (unathletic types mostly, pale of skin and soft of belly) who'd gaze out through the classroom windows just before noon, scanning the horizon for thunderclouds.
Because indoor recess — say it soft and it's almost like praying — meant sitting quietly at your desk and reading. There was none of the pressure, implicit from teachers and explicit from classmates, to leap, climb or hurl projectiles.
Kids like us, as you might expect, grew up to resent summer and all it entails, because it's basically outdoor recess. For three months. And my people, we own no shirts boasting wicking technology; we do not, as a general rule, jet-ski. Our adult interests are those best pursued in the cool, dark places of the world: We are film dorks, comic-book geeks, fantasy-lit fans, indie-music nerds.
So when summer comes, we leave the frothy beach books to those who frequent the frothy beach, seeking out spikier, more esoteric pleasures instead. Our summer books are books you can sink your teeth into — and that sometimes bite back.
Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.9(MDAxNzgwMTg5MDEyMTQ4Nzc4MjdiNWVmMw004))
American History, on Shuffle-Repeat A Bracingly Unpredictable Voice A Newly Unearthed Patch of Middle Earth Fiction Without Filters An Enlightening Take on Darkness In Defense of Music Snobbery Come On, Baby, We're Going to the Rock Show Let Us Now Praise Wacky Neighbors Gorgeous, Sweeping, Inch-High Adventure Music is Magic. Literally. Profiles in Disarming Cluelessness Art Is Long, Lunch Period Is Short Recommended Reading:
Click here for a printable list of our summer 2007 book roundups.Missing some content? Check the source: NPR
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