Summer Fun

By: Jeanne Thornton

Narrated by: Jeanne Thornton

From acclaimed author Jeanne Thornton, an epic, singular look at fandom, creativity, longing, and trans identity.

Gala, a young trans woman, works at a hostel in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. She is obsessed with the Get Happies, the quintessential 1960s Californian band, helmed by its resident genius, B--. Why did the band stop making music? Why did they never release their rumored album, Summer Fun?

Gala writes letters to B-- that shed light not only on the Get Happies, but paint an extraordinary portrait of Gala. The parallel narratives of B-- and Gala form a dialogue bout creation - of music, identity, self, culture, and counterculture.

Summer Fun is a brilliant and magical work of trans literature that marks Thornton as one of our most exciting and original novelists.

©2021 Jeanne Thornton (P)2021 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Incredible

Trans woman here. Slow burn, but what an incredible novel. Diane's story will stay with me for a while, and the framing me mechanisms give it a lot of nuance and homophily.

Extraordinary Storytelling

This book was recommended to me by a coworker and now I will be recommending it to everyone who needs a good read. Whimsical, genius and timeless. Thank you to the author!

Fiction that feels like a memoir

The attention to detail, and in character creation made the people, and their surroundings come alive. While the band, and characters are fictional, Jeanne presents the gender dynamics of the various trans women in the stories with a realism that can only come with experience.

I can only hope that cisgender people will read, or listen to this book, and hopefully come away with a better understanding of the hurdles we face in our interactions with our families, society, workplaces, and often with each other. As a trans woman myself, I found it necessary to take breaks from the book, simply because the situations were just too real, and close to home. I always came back to it after a short break though, and I'm so glad that I did.

Hard Hitting, Lovely

How can I review this book without spoiling it? You don’t need to be interested in 60s music to get a lot out of it, but getting a lot out of it might make you interested in 60s music. I was brought to tears on almost every listen. Mild, broad spoiler ahead: this book has the best depictions of abuse I have ever engaged with. It seems like it *gets* abuse in a way most media doesn’t. It’s a rough listen at times, especially when you relate to some of the things depicted, but it’s worthwhile and never comes off exploitative or needlessly shocking