“Hot weather opens the skull of a city, exposing its white brain, and its heart of nerves, which sizzle like the wires inside a light bulb. And there exudes a sour extra-human smell that makes the very stone seem flesh-alive, webbed and pulsing.” ―Truman Capote.
It might not be skull-exposing hot, but Capote’s description seems about right in this Atlanta heat. Sometimes, diving into a good book during the dog days of summer can revive us like a glass of sweet tea.
Dr. Stuart Noel, associate dean of English at Georgia State University’s Perimeter College (and also a Capote scholar) recommends a few summer reads that will provide escape, no matter what the temperature outside.
Here are suggestions:
“Keep us cool” novels
“Breakfast at Tiffany’s” by Truman Capote
“Cold Mountain” by Charles Frazier
“Wise Blood” by Flannery O’Connor
“The Moviegoer” by Walker Percy
“Ship of Fools” by Katherine Anne Porter
“The Light in the Piazza” by Elizabeth Spencer
“Big Fish” by Daniel Wallace
“The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone” by Tennessee Williams
“Look Homeward, Angel” by Thomas Wolfe
“Hot, steamy South” novels
“Other Voices, Other Rooms” by Truman Capote
“The Awakening” by Kate Chopin
“The Hamlet” (basis for the film “The Long, Hot Summer”) by William Faulkner
“The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter” by Carson McCullers
“The Color Purple” by Alice Walker
“Delta Wedding” by Eudora Welty
“The Dog Star” by Donald Windham