Last Days of Summer- Wow, talk about your pleasant surprises! Whoever said that impulse shopping can never yield anything of worth need only look to this book. I bought this on a whim and I sure am glad that I did. This is an incredibly funny and touching book that no one should miss. It tells the tale of Joey Margolis, a little Jewish kid living in Brooklyn in the 1940’s. The story is told in a series of letters that the boy sends to different people and the responses that they generate. His favorite target is Charlie Banks, the third baseman for the New York Giants. The letters that these two send each other in the beginning are absolutely hilarious. I can only imagine what I would have done if I was in Banks’ shoes. This adversarial relationship eventually burgeons into a wonderfully touching friendship that takes Joey across the country. His exploits are incredibly funny and the relationship that these two share is great. Banks serves as a surrogate father for Joey and Joey serves as a perennial pain in the ass for Banks. It’s great to see their relationship develop as the book goes on, and it’s equally enjoyable to see how the two of them change each other for the better. This book has lots of funny moments (I must have sounded like an idiot reading this book on my deck because I was constantly roaring with laughter) along with its fair share of touching ones. It lets you live vicariously through these characters in the 1940’s, a place that I always wanted to experience. The author, Steve Kluger, either really did his research or is an incredibly believable bullshitter. This book will mesmerize you with its simplicity and emotion and leave you wanting more. It culminates in an emotional ending, one that you feared, but sort of knew was coming. This one’s definitely worth a look- the sweetest and funniest book I’ve read in a long time.