The Last Magic Summer: A Season with My Son [Paperback]

Peter Gent (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 22, 1998

After a rollercoaster career as a pro football star and bestselling author, Peter Gent's ride in the fast lane ended in a bruising divorce and custody battle. Afterward, he returned to his hometown to rebuild his relationship with his son, Carter. This chronicle of ten seasons coaching Carter's "Connie Mack" league baseball team celebrates the redemptive power of sports, the healing bond between father and son, and the bittersweet turning point when a father must face the proud yet painful process of letting go.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Much of the text early on has to do with the bitter and prolonged divorce in the 1980s of ex-NFL player Gent (North Dallas Forty) and his second wife, whom he portrays as a lying, thieving birdbrain (deciding that she wants a career, she is torn between painting and selling real estate) who is determined to use their son, Carter, as a bargaining chip in their battles. And, as if the catalogue of his domestic woes is insufficient, Gent provides details on his brother's death from cancer, his own recurring back injury and the decline of his hometown of Bangor, Mich., where even the trees died, of Dutch elm disease. What uplift there is here is provided by his account of the summer of 1993, when Gent coached and Carter starred on the Bangor Connie Mack League team, which made it to the district finals, then lost. But with the end of the summer, Carter went off to college, leaving Gent alone with his memories and the prospect of a lonely old age. Intended to be poignant, the story is only gloomy.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Gent, a former football star and author of the best-selling North Dallas Forty (1973), here tackles the subject closest to his heart: his relationship with his son, Carter. Ostensibly, this is a book about amateur baseball. Yet it is really a book about how baseball helped to heal emotional wounds and strengthened a bond between father and son. A finely told story that will circulate well in most libraries.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (April 22, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688155618
• ISBN-13: 978-0688155612
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,804,023 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It captures the emotions of a parent letting go, May 26, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Last Magic Summer: A Season With My Son (Hardcover)

Although the divorce is pivotal in this story, it is not necessarily the key to the book's essence. Any parent who has reached the point of letting go can relate to the emotions the author so wonderfully describes. If a reader is an avid baseball fan, especially Little League, Pony League, Babe Ruth, etc., the story jumps out at you and transports you to that "magic" only summer youth baseball can take you. As the mother of three children, two who are finished with youth baseball and softball, and one still keeping me in the "magic" at the age of 13, I loved the book. Mr. Gent deals with emotions like unconditional love, fear, apprehension,regret and wins during that Last Magic Summer.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book about dads, lads and Derek Jeter..., September 3, 2001

By 

C. Baker "cdbfour" (Boston, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Last Magic Summer: A Season With My Son (Hardcover)

I cannot believe this book is out of print. I gave my copy to my brother several years ago, and went looking for a new copy today after the hated New York Yankees swept my beloved Boston Red Sox by scoring a whopping 6 runs in three games.
Why? Because Peter Gent's book - which is a wonderful tale about a father and his son getting to know one another - is also a prequel to the very public and successful career of Derek Jeter. You see, Derek Jeter starred on the Connie Mack team that Gent's son Carter played against for the Michigan state championship, and even back then, he was being viewed as a big-time up-and-coming baseball phenom.
And while some of the scenes between Gent and his son will tear your heart out, Jeter is front-and-center in the best sports scene in the book. That occurs when Mike Wyshowski(sp?), the farm-boy pitcher for Carter's team, whiffs Derek Jeter swinging with runners in scoring position late in the very close Championship Game, thereby sealing the win for the underdogs (and permanently endearing himself to me).
This is a wonderful novel. I read North Dallas Forty when I was just a kid, and thought it was a great, funny book. I thought this book, which I read after I'd gotten old enough to get married and have kids of my own, was much, much better. I'm assuming the fact that it's out of print means it didn't sell well. That's a shame, because it's every bit the story NDF was, and then some.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a part of that "magic summer", January 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Last Magic Summer: A Season With My Son (Hardcover)

After Pete had asked a friend & I to join his Bangor team for the Kalamazoo tourney in the summer of 1991, I really got to understand & appreciate the love that he had for Carter & youth sports. His book was truly touching, especially after he asked me to be a small part of one of those summers. I will always cherish the opportunity he gave me, as well as the autographed copy of this book. A must read for all baseball fans & parents.