ONE FAT SUMMER

by Robert Lipsyte ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 6, 1977

Fourteen years of butterfat, heavy cream, congealed grease, peanut butter, and side orders"" are slowly melting away. No longer will local hoods call him the Crisco Kid, or his sister tell him ""keep your chins up."" In Robert Lipsyte's first novel since The Contender, Bobby Marks recalls much more than the weight lost cutting Dr. Kahn's ""chlorophyll monster"" of a lawn that summer of 1952. He remembers the deadly peanut butter strangles and ice cream headaches of overeating; the good, jittery fear that the lawnboy he replaced will pulverize him (""your ass is grass, faggot, and I'm the lawnmower""); the loss of his best friend Joanie, whose nose job makes her vain, no longer a fellow freak; the late summer confrontation with his crazy-drunk, rifle-toting nemesis. But Bobby can take it. Underneath all that fat he's a spunky city kid, occasionally escaping to Mittyesque daydream--""ladies and gentlemen, the new heavyweight champion of mowing, Big Bob Marks""--more often knifing back with a fast one-liner: ""Was that Joanie? . . . No, it was Ike. He wanted to know if I liked him."" You're bound to like this fat boy right from the start. And throughout, the light touch, snappy patter, and on-target characterization make his summer very funny and fully alive.

Pub Date: April 6, 1977

ISBN: 0064470733

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper & Row

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1977

Categories: FICTION