Myth of a Summer Moon Review

Brady Stefani
Writer/Film Maker

I was so impressed by this writing style. I love the descriptive sentences and the Faulkneresque or maybe Hemingway 1930’s-40’s style of romanticism. I must admit, it took me a good 30 -40 pages to get used to the style. So at first it would take me a minute or even two minutes to read through one page. But slowly I found the voice and the style and was able to clip along. It was kind of like James Joyce where there is so much in one paragraph or sentence that you have to train yourself to read between the lines.

At first I kept thinking, Wow, this is great, literate, clever clever writing! But how is a teenage kid going to get through this if I am having trouble? But 1) once I found the voice, things came easier; 2) the characters and themes were within the grasp of a young adult; and 3) in high school I was assigned to read James Joyce and Faulkner’s Sound & The Fury (each chapter narrated through a different character’s voice, including a retarded boy) so readers must be smarter than I give them credit for.

I really enjoyed the book. I don’t know how the authors learned so much about the poor southern 1930’s way of life and way of talking, but they certainly seem to have nailed it. The Greek references were very cool too, without being too heavy for high school readers. I think what I enjoyed most was the characters. I grew to like them and cheer for them, and despise the bad guys. The drama had its punchy points as well. The scene where they first have to tie up the Bull (first morning he’s loose) and some of the scenes with the bad guys – like when they were lurking around in town, and especially the second to last showdown where they are laying in the weeds and then pop up when they hear voices. I thought those scenes were crafted or plotted very well. They built up nicely!!

Over all, I really enjoyed the book. And was very very impressed by the writing. It is an older style for sure. But it works for this story.

For readers of any age, it won’t take more than a few pages to realize that the authors are masters in the art of descriptive writing. There are so many emotionally charged visual images from the pages of this book that will probably be forever implanted in my brain. So it was a very rich and rewarding read. To young readers, I’d say that while it may take a while to adjust to the almost abstract or highly imaginative and uniquely insightful descriptions of every day scenes that seem to come out of all the characters’ brains, the pay off for sticking with it is a remarkable story about ordinary characters who each discover what it is that is remarkable about themselves with a very fulfilling conclusion.