Summer at The End of The World

By Kirsten Kingdon

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0966723716
• ISBN13: 9780966723717
• Release Date: April 2000
• Publisher: Banta & Pool Literary Properties, LLC
• Length: 156 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Making Sense of a Life

I devoured this book because it's a brilliant weaving of memory, perception (Kingdon's depictions of natural beauty and food are a particular delight), spirit, and emotion into a fabric of self-discovery and -reconciliation. Kingdon carries the reader along with her on this journey, gently insinuating her consciousness into ours until we feel as if we're living the life described in the book. We glory in its triumphs and grow stronger as we survive its tragedies. After I finished this book, I knew I'd encountered a real life, not some phony or artsy construction. Just as compelling is Kingdon's incisive treatment of sexual orientation. By integrating the theme of homosexuality into the narrator's life--neither its central factor nor a peripheral element but just a fact of existence--and by showing implicit parallels to her own (straight) sexuality, she counters the anti-GLBT people who insist upon inflating sexual orientation into angelic or demonic monstrosities. Kingdon tells it like is about sex: Love confers meaning and integrity upon sexual practices, not mechanics or gender. Even if you don't care about the inner journey of the narrator or homosexuality, you can still enjoy this novel as a travel book. But if you do care about them, you'll enjoy the trip even more.

Kingdon in One Fine Story Teller

In telling the story of Summer at the End of the World, Kirsten Kingdon skillfully engages the reader in her tale, but almost by stealth, sends a message. The story is about a newly widowed woman finding her way--a drama which plays out in many interesting and engaging ways. The message is about gay rights. It is so skillfully interwoven into the story that one is scarcely aware that it has been delivered. This is because the story's characters find their way through life in ways familar straights and gays alike. By revealing this common thread of the human experience, Kingdon both entertains and enlightens us.

A wonderful reminiscence of growth.

This book is an excellent semi-autobiography - most of it is based on the author's own experiences, and therein lies the strength of the book. Although the fictional sections sometimes feel contrived, the author's descriptions of her actual experiences and of the growth process she has gone through, is phenomenal. She is exceedingly honest with the reader, including about her own faults, and is therefore infinitely human and endearing.

An absorbing, deeply moving novel

Summer at the End of the World, by Kirsten Kingdon is an absorbing, deeply moving novel. What the author has done exceptionally well is to look deeply into the conflicts between religion and homosexuality. Her message to readers is clear and encouraging. People can reconcile their faith with the homosexuality of a loved one.