May 02 2009
Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead - a review
I picked up this book by Colson Whitehead because I’ve been going to Sag Harbor since I was in the womb and the fact that it was about a young, black man in the mid eighties going there absolutely fascinated me because, quite frankly, I am obsessed with learning about the subcultures that exist there in that small town. So I requested it from the library and read it in about 4 days, it was that engrossing.
Colson Whitehead wrote this fourth novel as autobiographical fiction - he grew up in the eighties in Manhattan and spent his summers in Sag Harbor and his intent was to give us a portrait of what life was like in Sag Harbor in the eighties. The year is 1985 and the main character is Benji Cooper, who insists on being called Ben. Benji is a 15 year old black boy who leaves the city to spend three largely unsupervised months with his 14 year old brother in sag Harbor. His parents spent Monday through Friday in the city and then spent weekends with their children in Sag Harbor. Benji loves Star Wars and Dungeons n Dragons and reading, so he doesn’t get into a whole lot of trouble in this book - he’s somewhat of a nerd. The book’s eight chapters include first kisses, removal of braces, figuring out who is “out” for the summer and securing beer.
Sag Harbor is well written, beautiful in fact, and enjoyable. It really transports you to the time and place experienced by the characters in the novel - I lived in Sag Harbor during the time in question, which may be why it was so easy to picture. I got a kick out of seeing places mentioned in the novel that I had actually been to many times while living there. I wouldn’t say that there was a whole lot of plot - but Mr. Whitehead has indicated that the goal wasn’t necessarily to have characters who learned a whole lot but the goal of his novel was to catch a slice of culture and context. If that’s the goal, then he accomplished that magnificently. It was charming and enjoyable and just plain fun.
Go out and read this book!
Book Number 24/100
