Sag Harbor

by Colson Whitehead

About two years ago I read an excerpt from this book in the New Yorker, and enjoyed it a lot.  I'd already read and enjoyed two of Whitehead's novels, and one book of essays, and had a high opinion of the author, but this book was different.

The Intuitionist was an interesting story about the philosophical methods and beliefs of elevator repairmen that showed a lot of promise.  John Henry Days was a great novel, which explored the John Henry figure, and told a pretty fascinating story.  But this New Yorker story was different - it had an innocence and charm to it that the other books lacked.  I was immediately interested in reading it, but of course it took me a couple of years before I actually read the book.

Sag Harbor feels very auto-biographical, and the comments in the acknowledgments make it clear that a lot of this book is based on Whitehead's life.  The book starts Benji (now Ben), a middle-class African American private school student from New York, who, every summer of his life, stays in Sag Harbor with his brother, and on week-ends, his parents.  The novel is basically a teenage coming-of-age book set in the mid-80s, and it's pretty funny and charming.

Benji and his group of friends get up to the usual kind of ruckus, drinking, working minimum wage jobs, fighting with BB guns, trying to meet girls, and so on.  Benji feels different from all his friends though; he's introspective and more than a little clueless, and carries a fair number of anxieties around with him.

Whitehead puts a lot of care into crafting his lost slice of idyllic summers, as he chronicles a way of life that is forever lost.  There are a number of memorable characters (Benji's domineering, argumentative, barbecue-obsessed father being a good example), and hundreds of references to the 80s.

I found the book frequently funny (I loved the part where Benji questions why so many white people, especially teachers, feel the need to touch black hair) and an enjoyable read.  Recommended.