Fiction Pick of the Week: Summertime

An appropriate title for a hot week in Burlington!



Summertime by J.M. Coetzee 2009

In this work of inspiring fiction J. M. Coetzee imagines himself through the interviews of a young English biographer. The novel is a series of interviews with the author posing as the biographer. Through the interviews with people like Julia, Sophie, Margo and Adriana, the reader begins to understand J. M. Coetzee in the early years of his writing in South Africa. From these interviews we see the many-sided life of the author and his relationship with each of the women. Through their relationships, we learn about what it means to care for others.
J. M. Coetzee is a Nobel Laureate and two-time winner of the Booker Prize for fiction. The novel Summertime was nominated for the Booker Prize as well.