The Sunday Question

Which book (or CD, or film) most evokes summer for you?

The corn is up. The hay is down. To me, that means summer has arrived, no matter what the actual date. My reading usually corresponds in some measure to the weather. I can never somehow read a book that's set in the dead of winter when it's sweltering outside. When I'm lazing in a hammock by the river in my mind, I don't want to be reminded of the possibility of snow, ice, or wool worn against the skin. So I'm always on the lookout for the perfect summer book.

Hence this summer starter question: which book (etc.) do you think most evocative of summer?

In my pre-Sunday Question poll, I received quite a few musical responses. Emily Crowe says Ry Cooder's collaboration with Malian guitarist Ali Farka Toure, Talking Timbuktu, is the perfect music for sitting on the porch in the broil, drinking cold beer and telling tall tales.

Eric says anything by the Grateful Dead puts him instantly in mind of all the summers of his youth.

Marika says her favorite evocation of summer is Mr. Rabbit by Charlotte Zolotow, with gorgeous watercolor illustrations by Maurice Sendak.

My endless summer reading usually involves a sojourn with one or two of our great Southern writers. My absolute favorite summer book is Eudora Welty's Losing Battles, set in rural Mississippi on the first Sunday in August, when four generations of Vaughns get together for Granny Vaughn's 90th birthday, sit around on the porch and tell tall tales (summer just seems to require porches and tall tales), while the prodigal son gets himself home.

Let us know your fave summery artistic evocation.

~ Chrysler