The fictional memoir, The Night Swimmers by Peter Rock, has so much intimacy and immediacy that I found myself checking the book jacket more than once to see that it was really fiction.
As the narrator looks back to remember a particular summer, and a particular friendship, he takes an archeological and literary journey through failed past relationships. Life is so much about the things that you don’t say. And the things that you don’t do. This is all seen from the vantage point of his present, happily-married life.
Nostalgia can be a tricky thing to connect with, but there is just the right touch of specificity that makes it work. This is one of those books that feels lightly sketched, but some of the lyrical moments have burrowed their way into my psyche that they will stick with me. Perfect read at the start of summer.
