Summerland

Summerland by Michael Chabon

A magical novel for readers of all ages that blends fantasy and folklore with that most American coming-of-age ritual: baseball--now in a new edition, with an original introduction by the author.

For over a century, the people of Clam Island, Washington, have enjoyed barbecues and baseball games at Summerland, on the western tip of the island, where it never rains. The small beings--known as ferishers--who ensure this perfect weather, however, are threatened by an ancient enemy and need a hero--a baseball star, in fact--to vanquish their foe. Summerland is the story of Ethan Feld, the worst ballplayer in the history of the game, recruited by a hundred-year-old scout called Ringfinger Brown, himself a Negro Leagues legend. Accompanied by his determined friend Jennifer T. Rideout and guided by a friendly werefox, Ethan struggles to defeat giants, bat-winged goblins, and one of the toughest ballclubs in the realms of magic to save all the Summerlands--and ultimately the world.

Praise for Michael Chabon

An immensely gifted writer and a magical prose stylist.-New York Times

His work is page-turning and poignant; he is one of the best writers of English prose alive. . . . He wants to move and thrill us both, and he does.-Washington Post Book World

A prose magician, Chabon is that rare literary anomaly: a gentle-spirited writer of boundless ambition.-Village Voice

A literary swashbuckler.-Houston Chronicle

Michael Chabon is an escape artist: his novels are elegant and energetic circus tricks which celebrate, again and again, the joy of release from the constraints of the everyday world.-Financial Times

An unstoppable master of the ripping yarn, beautifully told.-Minneapolis Star Tribune

Probably the premier prose stylist -the Updike-of his generation.-Time