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Lost in Summerland: Essays
Barrett Swanson embarks on a personal quest across the United States to uncover what it means to be an American amid the swirl of our post-truth climate in this collection of critically acclaimed essays and reportage. A trip with his brother to a New York psychic community becomes a rollicking tour through the world of American spiritualism. At a wilderness retreat in Ohio, men seek a cure for toxic masculinity, while in the hinterlands of Wisconsin, antiwar veterans turn to farming when they cannot sustain the heroic myth of service. And when his best friend's body washes up on the shores of the Mississippi River, he falls into the gullet of true crime discussion boards, exploring the stamina of conspiracy theories along the cankered byways of the Midwest. In this exhilarating debut, Barrett Swanson introduces us to a new reality. At a moment when grand unifying narratives have splintered into competing storylines, these critically acclaimed essays document the many routes by which people are struggling to find stability in the aftermath of our country's political and economic collapse, sometimes at dire and disillusioning costs.
304 pages, Paperback
First published May 18, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
June 20, 2021
I first learned of Barrett from his excellent essay about Tik Tok influencers in a recent edition of Harper's. Decided to check out more of his work.
His style, as noted by others, is simultaneously investigative and memoiristic. The best essays in this collection are like Mobius strips, where exterior and interior are both of a piece, where observation, memory, and critical analysis all reside on the same block.
Apart from the technical achievements of this collection -- the precise, searching prose -- and almost irrespective of the depth of insight he manages to mine (which is occasionally quite deep, particularly when he reflects on his own family), I left almost every essay feeling like he was a kindred spirit. Despite our differences, I felt that my own personal and intellectual vagabondage was situated within his own. At times I was surprised by how much I felt this was the case, and I suppose that feeling, that sort of unexpected rapport between writer and reader, is about as much as you can hope for when picking up a new book.
(As a nerdy aside, this guy is very clearly an English professor. I counted 74 words in this book that were either new to me, or used in an unfamiliar way. He also clearly has some favorite words that live closer to the surface of his mind: exegesis, scrim, scrum, ablution, fulsome, rakish, restive, chimeric, vade mecum, shibboleth, eminence grise -- each used at least twice throughout the collection. As somebody who enjoys writing and the craft of composition, I found this -- and the fact that I could notice it -- somewhat endearing. Sue me.)
His style, as noted by others, is simultaneously investigative and memoiristic. The best essays in this collection are like Mobius strips, where exterior and interior are both of a piece, where observation, memory, and critical analysis all reside on the same block.
Apart from the technical achievements of this collection -- the precise, searching prose -- and almost irrespective of the depth of insight he manages to mine (which is occasionally quite deep, particularly when he reflects on his own family), I left almost every essay feeling like he was a kindred spirit. Despite our differences, I felt that my own personal and intellectual vagabondage was situated within his own. At times I was surprised by how much I felt this was the case, and I suppose that feeling, that sort of unexpected rapport between writer and reader, is about as much as you can hope for when picking up a new book.
(As a nerdy aside, this guy is very clearly an English professor. I counted 74 words in this book that were either new to me, or used in an unfamiliar way. He also clearly has some favorite words that live closer to the surface of his mind: exegesis, scrim, scrum, ablution, fulsome, rakish, restive, chimeric, vade mecum, shibboleth, eminence grise -- each used at least twice throughout the collection. As somebody who enjoys writing and the craft of composition, I found this -- and the fact that I could notice it -- somewhat endearing. Sue me.)
May 16, 2021
I first encountered Barret Swanson’s work in The New Republic, when I happened to click on something called “What I Learned from the Worst Novelist in the English Language.” I began that piece with trepidation. I was curious, but the title made me fear that I may have committed to reading an essay laced with spite, snark and malice. Happily, that was not the case, and I came away with an appreciation for both Swanson’s prose and his generosity. The subject of that essay would have been easy to mock, but Swanson wrote about him and his work with compassion and understanding.
Consciousness raising men’s groups, utopian futurists, West Wing devotees, and spiritual mediums – many of the subjects of Swanson’s first book, Lost in Summerland, are also soft targets, easily caricatured or condescended to. But as with the essay mentioned above, he never succumbs to that vice. That may sound like faint praise, but it’s not intended to be. Swanson is literate and insightful, and he pens fluid, engaging prose. He's a fine writer, and to judge by the account contained in this book’s pages, a fine person as well.
Consciousness raising men’s groups, utopian futurists, West Wing devotees, and spiritual mediums – many of the subjects of Swanson’s first book, Lost in Summerland, are also soft targets, easily caricatured or condescended to. But as with the essay mentioned above, he never succumbs to that vice. That may sound like faint praise, but it’s not intended to be. Swanson is literate and insightful, and he pens fluid, engaging prose. He's a fine writer, and to judge by the account contained in this book’s pages, a fine person as well.
June 29, 2021
Read Swanson's piece in Harper's "Anxiety of Influencers" and was blown away. I immediately read this book of essays and loved it. It could be commiserating identification (both English teachers from the Midwest with complex familiar relationships and emotionally raw/critical opinions of contemporary culture) or just that he wears his humane idealism on his sleeve; I like this guy's writing a lot.
May 13, 2025
“Lost in Summerland” by Barrett Swanson was the book of the month for Patrol Base Abbate book club so I read most of it prior to our monthly meeting with the Author as a special guest. I gained a lot of respect for him as he graciously spent time with our group of veteran readers. The book was good, Swanson is a phenomenal writer with a vocabulary that I can’t begin to fathom. His stories are contemplative and journalistic at times. You can tell he’s wrestled with the nuances of telling his and other people’s stories all while battling with his own mental health. At some points I languished within the pages as at times it felt like he was using words he knew the reader didn’t know and would have to look up. We get it, you’re much smarter than us. But for me although I appreciate the linguistic heterogeneity, I found that sometimes it took me out of the story when I didn’t immediately catch his intent for lack of a clearly defined word. Most likely my issue and not his. At times the book felt preachy or condescending and other times it just felt like an MFA thesis. What I will say is that Swanson is a great storyteller, sometimes he just seems to get in his own way.
February 12, 2022
Yes, I also came upon this book after reading the essay about TikTok mansions which is just right in every aspect.
I read this book on my phone in between lectures at the university. And I must say that the essay about Kafka’s “the hunger artist” gave me chills in a public place.
The writing style is to die for. The way the writer tackles any subject is very profound. And yeah, there was a lot of vocabulary that I didn’t know about.
The fifth star is lost just because I thought that some of the essays were a bit American-specific.
I must say that if I ever write a book of essays, I want it to be just like this book.
I read this book on my phone in between lectures at the university. And I must say that the essay about Kafka’s “the hunger artist” gave me chills in a public place.
The writing style is to die for. The way the writer tackles any subject is very profound. And yeah, there was a lot of vocabulary that I didn’t know about.
The fifth star is lost just because I thought that some of the essays were a bit American-specific.
I must say that if I ever write a book of essays, I want it to be just like this book.
May 30, 2021
A consistently fascinating collection of essays that was both intellectually stimulating and also just simply made me cry! I can think of no better personal endorsement than the fact that I found myself somehow completely absorbed in an essay about football.
March 6, 2022
Barrett Swanson can write. This collection of personal-but-also-investigative essays explores topics like depression and mental health, spirituality and mediums, school shootings and disaster preparedness, social media and human connection, all woven together with the motif of toxic masculinity. The essays that spoke to me the most were ‘The Solider and the Soil’, in which Swanson spent time with an anti-war Iraq veteran who founded an organic farm (named Peacefully Organic Produce, which I love), and ‘Calling Audibles’, which brilliantly parallels the history and language of American football with that of war.
(I mean, just read this: “… the language we use to describe [football] actually ends up shaping both its public perception and its course of play. If we exalt its brutality, if we extol its players in militaristic terms, then we as fans become ever more willing to condone crippling, career-ending violence as nothing more than the tragic but unavoidable byproducts of a savage sport in which informed athletes voluntarily participate.” This guy is so smart.)
Lost in Summerland is an intellectually stimulating, funny, and thoroughly original piece of work. I’m already looking forward to Swanson’s future essays.
(I mean, just read this: “… the language we use to describe [football] actually ends up shaping both its public perception and its course of play. If we exalt its brutality, if we extol its players in militaristic terms, then we as fans become ever more willing to condone crippling, career-ending violence as nothing more than the tragic but unavoidable byproducts of a savage sport in which informed athletes voluntarily participate.” This guy is so smart.)
Lost in Summerland is an intellectually stimulating, funny, and thoroughly original piece of work. I’m already looking forward to Swanson’s future essays.
July 21, 2021
If you've felt swamped in negativity and cynicism like I have for the past year, this book is a reprieve. That doesn't mean it's happy-go-lucky, motivational poster writing. These are difficult, ugly topics, but handled with empathy and curiosity and an artful hand. They sound like essays about the fractured world written by somebody you can trust.
August 22, 2021
I first encountered Swanson’s writing in Orion Magazine, when he published a non-fiction essay about a small business run by veterans to raise organic produce. Struck by his careful characterization of veterans and the policy failures of reintegrating soldiers into civilian life, I was pleased to see Swanson’s debut collection of essays picked up by Counterpoint Press. Trained as a post-structuralist and now teaching composition at university, his approach to his subjects is one of inquiry, a dissatisfaction with platitudes and surfaces. He tackles subjects as diverse as disaster scenario planning to personal tragedies, hyperaware of masculine violence and the trappings of American Midwestern culture.
Didion’s style of new journalism is influential on Swanson’s writing. The insertion of narrative and self into the essay format begins in the opening essay, “Notes from a Last Man”, where Swanson narrates a vacation he and his wife took over one summer. Dissatisfied with his career progression, Swanson moves to Fort Lauderdale and lives in a retirement community, getting acquainted with his neighbours and then later, the crowds of college kids on their annual Spring Break pilgrimages. Swanson’s writing is lucid, his propensity for short but elegant sentences again recalling Didion (for example: “Our rebirth, however, is of a more intemperate sort.”) There is an enjoyable ornamentation effected, both in the characters that appear and the evocation of the senses. Likewise, Swanson has a gift for endings that I shall leave unquoted. In these essays, among which I count “Okay Forever”, the above mentioned “The Soldier and the Soil”, “Calling Audibles” and “Lost in Summerland”, Swanson’s writing is sharp. The subjects are familiar – family, war, father-son relationships – but Swanson’s impulse is to push past and investigate the blurry afterimages of those tropes. As a reader, I felt an excitement that I don't often feel in non-fiction writing, a sense of discovery.
Masculinity as an archetype is the key topic of examination in this book. That said, I felt that Swanson stumbles in his essay on men’s wellness seminars, “Consciousness Razing”. In it, Swanson observes that many of such movements and initiatives are rooted in the wellness industry, drawing upon homoeopathy and questionable doctrine. But should our judgement be reserved for the industry, rather than the individual? “Consciousness Razing” is based on Swanson’s participation in one such wellness retreat, and his descriptions of the attendees give me pause. One of the attendees is described as “handsome in the bland, sanitized manner of Ken dolls or newscasters”. Comparing another human to an inanimate doll surely has to be troubling, even if the needs of exposition demand it. A later description of a guided breathing exercise that induces emotional swings akin to an acid trip is described as a collective writhing and weeping, the men “figures in a tableau vivant of a Hieronymous Bosch painting”. Conveniently, Swanson has at this point retreated from participation at this point to the perch of an observer, the participative element of empathy discarded for dismay. It is a shame, because narrator belief (or lack thereof) is expertly examined in the titular essay, "Lost in Summerland". Swanson is capable of more.
The collection’s essays thus feels starkly divided between the personal and the more investigative pieces. Those in the latter category are weaker, mired in indecision about how to frame their topics. “Prophet of the Swamp”, which concerns itself with the failure of utopian visions and engineering, only forges in the essay’s final section a halfhearted connection between the dated failures of Jacque Fresco’s The Venus Project and the influence of social media giants of today. I would have preferred if Swanson had jumped straight into the mythos of the Comprehensive Designer; how the countercultural energies in technology remain now in the modern-day as a vestige of its former self, gorging on its accrued riches. In “Political Fictions”, Swanson’s love for The West Wing is conveyed with such a feeling of embarrassment and disavowal that his essay’s observations into the dreams of the progressive left are almost washed away. I much preferred Swanson’s more recent essay in Harper’s about TikTok influencers and culture. A more recent piece, its assured framing and empathy for his subjects bodes well for Swanson’s future books.
Didion’s style of new journalism is influential on Swanson’s writing. The insertion of narrative and self into the essay format begins in the opening essay, “Notes from a Last Man”, where Swanson narrates a vacation he and his wife took over one summer. Dissatisfied with his career progression, Swanson moves to Fort Lauderdale and lives in a retirement community, getting acquainted with his neighbours and then later, the crowds of college kids on their annual Spring Break pilgrimages. Swanson’s writing is lucid, his propensity for short but elegant sentences again recalling Didion (for example: “Our rebirth, however, is of a more intemperate sort.”) There is an enjoyable ornamentation effected, both in the characters that appear and the evocation of the senses. Likewise, Swanson has a gift for endings that I shall leave unquoted. In these essays, among which I count “Okay Forever”, the above mentioned “The Soldier and the Soil”, “Calling Audibles” and “Lost in Summerland”, Swanson’s writing is sharp. The subjects are familiar – family, war, father-son relationships – but Swanson’s impulse is to push past and investigate the blurry afterimages of those tropes. As a reader, I felt an excitement that I don't often feel in non-fiction writing, a sense of discovery.
Masculinity as an archetype is the key topic of examination in this book. That said, I felt that Swanson stumbles in his essay on men’s wellness seminars, “Consciousness Razing”. In it, Swanson observes that many of such movements and initiatives are rooted in the wellness industry, drawing upon homoeopathy and questionable doctrine. But should our judgement be reserved for the industry, rather than the individual? “Consciousness Razing” is based on Swanson’s participation in one such wellness retreat, and his descriptions of the attendees give me pause. One of the attendees is described as “handsome in the bland, sanitized manner of Ken dolls or newscasters”. Comparing another human to an inanimate doll surely has to be troubling, even if the needs of exposition demand it. A later description of a guided breathing exercise that induces emotional swings akin to an acid trip is described as a collective writhing and weeping, the men “figures in a tableau vivant of a Hieronymous Bosch painting”. Conveniently, Swanson has at this point retreated from participation at this point to the perch of an observer, the participative element of empathy discarded for dismay. It is a shame, because narrator belief (or lack thereof) is expertly examined in the titular essay, "Lost in Summerland". Swanson is capable of more.
The collection’s essays thus feels starkly divided between the personal and the more investigative pieces. Those in the latter category are weaker, mired in indecision about how to frame their topics. “Prophet of the Swamp”, which concerns itself with the failure of utopian visions and engineering, only forges in the essay’s final section a halfhearted connection between the dated failures of Jacque Fresco’s The Venus Project and the influence of social media giants of today. I would have preferred if Swanson had jumped straight into the mythos of the Comprehensive Designer; how the countercultural energies in technology remain now in the modern-day as a vestige of its former self, gorging on its accrued riches. In “Political Fictions”, Swanson’s love for The West Wing is conveyed with such a feeling of embarrassment and disavowal that his essay’s observations into the dreams of the progressive left are almost washed away. I much preferred Swanson’s more recent essay in Harper’s about TikTok influencers and culture. A more recent piece, its assured framing and empathy for his subjects bodes well for Swanson’s future books.
July 5, 2021
4.5/5*
Like many, I discovered Swanson via his article on TikTok influencers. After a bit of biographical research, I found him to be a compelling dude and ordered his book of essays.
As a creative writer and culture critic, few can match Swanson's depth and wit. His prose is rife with subtle insights and hilarious quips that literally made me laugh out loud. He is a consummate English professor - both in his cynicism and vocabulary. While these two things give many of the essays their trenchant appeal, they also are Swanson's two primary pitfalls - as they give him a sense of rarified pretentiousness (I understand my use of "trenchant" and "rarified" could be seen as being equally pretentious) and subtly intimate that the everyday yokel Swanson so often describes would never be able to understand his professorial jargon, much less his poststructural critiques. It is clear, though, that Barrett is not this sort of person. Even as he derides the tacky, bourgeois spring breakers of Ft. Lauderdale, he willingly swaps contacts with boozy frat boys looking for a beach companion.
It is these moments where Swanson is at his most compelling - when he discards his postmodern mask and leaves himself vulnerable to the forces outside his own hyper-rationalism. The last few essays in particular showcase this quality.
As a more general comment, I want to mention his final essay, which describes our predilection for psychological self-obsession. Social media has convinced us that the world actually is all about us - it is a stage on which we are all protagonists of our very own narrative. Barrett, though, thoughtfully explains that happiness and meaningful relationships tend to come when we focus our energies on something outside of ourselves - when we are committed to an ideal that transcends our own experience. He is honest enough to admit that these are fundamentally religious ideas and that our aimlessness and anxiety are the inevitable aftershocks of postmodern thought. Yet he is unwilling to make the jump to something more - most notably some sort of faith.
In the closing pages, he quotes another writer saying faith is the light coming through the cracks in a door he could never open. My question is: why? What limits us from opening the door and at least considering something larger? I ask these questions because this seems to be one of the defining dynamics of my own generation - a generation of anxious souls drawn to something beautiful yet unwilling to risk the jump.
I have my own answers to these questions, but I'll keep them to myself. Who knows, maybe one day Barrett Swanson will figure it out and give us all the more reason to read his wonderful writing.
Like many, I discovered Swanson via his article on TikTok influencers. After a bit of biographical research, I found him to be a compelling dude and ordered his book of essays.
As a creative writer and culture critic, few can match Swanson's depth and wit. His prose is rife with subtle insights and hilarious quips that literally made me laugh out loud. He is a consummate English professor - both in his cynicism and vocabulary. While these two things give many of the essays their trenchant appeal, they also are Swanson's two primary pitfalls - as they give him a sense of rarified pretentiousness (I understand my use of "trenchant" and "rarified" could be seen as being equally pretentious) and subtly intimate that the everyday yokel Swanson so often describes would never be able to understand his professorial jargon, much less his poststructural critiques. It is clear, though, that Barrett is not this sort of person. Even as he derides the tacky, bourgeois spring breakers of Ft. Lauderdale, he willingly swaps contacts with boozy frat boys looking for a beach companion.
It is these moments where Swanson is at his most compelling - when he discards his postmodern mask and leaves himself vulnerable to the forces outside his own hyper-rationalism. The last few essays in particular showcase this quality.
As a more general comment, I want to mention his final essay, which describes our predilection for psychological self-obsession. Social media has convinced us that the world actually is all about us - it is a stage on which we are all protagonists of our very own narrative. Barrett, though, thoughtfully explains that happiness and meaningful relationships tend to come when we focus our energies on something outside of ourselves - when we are committed to an ideal that transcends our own experience. He is honest enough to admit that these are fundamentally religious ideas and that our aimlessness and anxiety are the inevitable aftershocks of postmodern thought. Yet he is unwilling to make the jump to something more - most notably some sort of faith.
In the closing pages, he quotes another writer saying faith is the light coming through the cracks in a door he could never open. My question is: why? What limits us from opening the door and at least considering something larger? I ask these questions because this seems to be one of the defining dynamics of my own generation - a generation of anxious souls drawn to something beautiful yet unwilling to risk the jump.
I have my own answers to these questions, but I'll keep them to myself. Who knows, maybe one day Barrett Swanson will figure it out and give us all the more reason to read his wonderful writing.
February 5, 2024
3.5 rounded down bc i ran out of steam for the last 2. each essay puts the art of narrativizing on full display. you can practically see swanson's hands assembling the pieces - theme, anecdote, research - for each one. his tone always has a slightly ironic bent. i found his style rather overwritten, and the choice of metaphors sometimes redundant ("brailled with goosebumps"), though i did hit my stride with it occasionally. the actual insights he offers in each piece are not the most piercing, to me, and he seems to have some large critical blind spots (e.g. prophet of the swamp - why not mention indigenous economies & styles of resource/land management? seems the obvious comparison to me. instead swanson compares the venus project to silicon valley ventures like appletopia, using legitimate criticism of the one to cast doubt on the other. but without a positive counterexample, the doubt extends unimpeded onto the few anticapitalist elements of the venus project's philosophy which do hold water. yes, he makes a very good critique of how the venus project's principles of sustainability stem from a fundamental cynicism about humans, but why not rebut it by considering a much less misanthropic way of living that centers similar values? and which, better yet, was already proven effective in historical practice? the whole piece ends on a rather gloomy note because of this lack.)
still, i enjoyed being told the stories. and added 9 words to my words collection.
still, i enjoyed being told the stories. and added 9 words to my words collection.
August 5, 2024
Hmmmm.. Lost in Summerland is a collection of essays which span the gamut of self-reflection to literary criticism to observations of the world we live in. The collection is at best loosely linked together solely by the author. In other words, there is diversity but not coherence.
Observations: the author has a strong style and use of vocabulary that had me regularly reaching for my phone to look words up; the author has several emotional or behavioral issues that he describes yet they remain unresolved; I wonder what his life will be like in the coming years.
Some books have resolution of difficulties or describe pathways to be taken if one needs self-help. Lost in Summerland is not laid put that way. Rather, it is as if vignettes of trauma are presented and the reader is left piecing together various aspects of the authors life. Will the time on FL help? What happens with his brother? How about the authors OCD? None are resolved. At least not yet.
Interesting essays and observations. And maybe some books referenced inside that I should pick up. Well done. I look forward to reading more from Swanson.
The book was loaned to me by my son. Thanks, Carsen.
Observations: the author has a strong style and use of vocabulary that had me regularly reaching for my phone to look words up; the author has several emotional or behavioral issues that he describes yet they remain unresolved; I wonder what his life will be like in the coming years.
Some books have resolution of difficulties or describe pathways to be taken if one needs self-help. Lost in Summerland is not laid put that way. Rather, it is as if vignettes of trauma are presented and the reader is left piecing together various aspects of the authors life. Will the time on FL help? What happens with his brother? How about the authors OCD? None are resolved. At least not yet.
Interesting essays and observations. And maybe some books referenced inside that I should pick up. Well done. I look forward to reading more from Swanson.
The book was loaned to me by my son. Thanks, Carsen.
June 4, 2021
Barrett Swanson shares his unique perspective (and admirable vocabulary) in the series of essays comprising Lost in Summerland.
“It’s this lugubrious line of thinking that will haunt me all throughout the quarantine, watching from my apartment window as lights glow in other buildings, all of us zone out to flickering screens. All of our interactions are now virtual-all of us now live in the simulation- a place where it is increasingly difficult to distinguish between what is real and what is imagined, between which fears are legitimate and which are obsessive-compulsive.” P.266
“It’s this lugubrious line of thinking that will haunt me all throughout the quarantine, watching from my apartment window as lights glow in other buildings, all of us zone out to flickering screens. All of our interactions are now virtual-all of us now live in the simulation- a place where it is increasingly difficult to distinguish between what is real and what is imagined, between which fears are legitimate and which are obsessive-compulsive.” P.266
June 8, 2021
Loved this, each piece is a delicious blend of embedded undercover-style reportage, cultural criticism, and funny/poignant memoir.
The author infiltrates settings like a startup-powered men's retreat and a community of psychics, but I enjoyed the book most when it veers toward the personal -- his relationship with his brother (whose supposed post-brain injury psychic abilities bring them to said community), wife (always a funny cameo), deceased friend (whose death sends the author into a rabbit hole of conspiracy theories), etc.
Highly recommended!
The author infiltrates settings like a startup-powered men's retreat and a community of psychics, but I enjoyed the book most when it veers toward the personal -- his relationship with his brother (whose supposed post-brain injury psychic abilities bring them to said community), wife (always a funny cameo), deceased friend (whose death sends the author into a rabbit hole of conspiracy theories), etc.
Highly recommended!
June 2, 2021
One of the best books I have ever read. Note to self to come back later with a longer explanation. This touched me deeply.
August 11, 2023
Current cultural moment.
I appreciate reading about how other folks are wrestling with being a human being.
I appreciate reading about how other folks are wrestling with being a human being.
October 13, 2021
Found this wonderfully and surprisingly hopeful in its clear sightedness yet lack of irony and judgement. Strong storytelling in the personal essays and sage literary criticism
March 14, 2022
If you only read one essay, chose the about his telekinetic brother at the world’s largest gathering of psychics in Lily Dale.
July 27, 2024
A stunning and fascinating look at the development of the America that figures like Andrew Callaghan and John Oliver, in a way, choose to highlight and examine but that so many others overlook or push to the side. Barrett has an incredible grasp of language and many of the sentences and paragraphs in the book left me pausing to consider the weight of their respective messages.
While some essays - most often the ones focused outward where Barrett played a more anthropological and journalistic role - were breezier and imbued with a healthily cynical and skeptical sense of humor, the portions of the book that deal with Barrett’s personal life, his family and friends, were the portions in which I felt he dug the deepest and drew the strongest conclusions. I appreciated that not every essay was so conclusive, as it made certain observations rest in the air with a more plaintive mood, while the others that were more pointed were able to resound out strongly in the space created for them. Here is an author who understands the craft of the essay and of creative nonfiction. I yearn for another book and await it earnestly.
Favorite essays: Lost in Summerland, Church Not Made with Hands, Midwestern Gothic, Consciousness Razing
Least favorite essays: Flood Myths, Starving, Letters from a Target Rich Environment - mostly for the fact that, from their likely time of writing to now, the territory they tread has been worn into deep, deep grooves in the soil, through no fault of Barrett’s own.
While some essays - most often the ones focused outward where Barrett played a more anthropological and journalistic role - were breezier and imbued with a healthily cynical and skeptical sense of humor, the portions of the book that deal with Barrett’s personal life, his family and friends, were the portions in which I felt he dug the deepest and drew the strongest conclusions. I appreciated that not every essay was so conclusive, as it made certain observations rest in the air with a more plaintive mood, while the others that were more pointed were able to resound out strongly in the space created for them. Here is an author who understands the craft of the essay and of creative nonfiction. I yearn for another book and await it earnestly.
Favorite essays: Lost in Summerland, Church Not Made with Hands, Midwestern Gothic, Consciousness Razing
Least favorite essays: Flood Myths, Starving, Letters from a Target Rich Environment - mostly for the fact that, from their likely time of writing to now, the territory they tread has been worn into deep, deep grooves in the soil, through no fault of Barrett’s own.
October 17, 2023
Without a doubt, Barrett Swanson may be one of the finest writers I've ever read. He does know how to use those big words. However, that may be a drawback for some. Sometimes, it seems like he's standing tippy toe to reach for those really big words that maybe 5 percent of the readers would understand and that interrupts the flow of his creativity.
Also, it's difficult to get the meaning behind the collection. Why are these various essays gathered in this book? On first read, it seems to be an assortment of random essays. On deeper look, it could be a collection of pieces on the never-ending chore humans have of looking for something bigger, some salvation or interest or saving grace.
There's a fine essay about how Swanson's brother seems to have the ability to talk with ghosts and to exhibit some form of extra-sensory perception. Swanson writes about a man who espouses a free economy and has tried to create a world with that ideal in Venus, Fla. He also writes a personal look at his brother's traumatic head injury and playing football with his father -- noting the differences as both get older.
He also writes of learning about his friend's body found in the Mississippi River and begins visiting conspiracy and murder sites.
All these suggest the search for something better or at least distracting in life.
Again, the writing is excellent. And if I were smarter, I'd get the bigger word usage and probably enjoy it more.
Also, it's difficult to get the meaning behind the collection. Why are these various essays gathered in this book? On first read, it seems to be an assortment of random essays. On deeper look, it could be a collection of pieces on the never-ending chore humans have of looking for something bigger, some salvation or interest or saving grace.
There's a fine essay about how Swanson's brother seems to have the ability to talk with ghosts and to exhibit some form of extra-sensory perception. Swanson writes about a man who espouses a free economy and has tried to create a world with that ideal in Venus, Fla. He also writes a personal look at his brother's traumatic head injury and playing football with his father -- noting the differences as both get older.
He also writes of learning about his friend's body found in the Mississippi River and begins visiting conspiracy and murder sites.
All these suggest the search for something better or at least distracting in life.
Again, the writing is excellent. And if I were smarter, I'd get the bigger word usage and probably enjoy it more.
May 12, 2022
There are two types of people: Those who run away from things that disgust them, and those who feel an insatiable pull to explore that disgust by getting all up in it. Barrett, like many great personal essayists, is of the latter type — and as such he ends up in a lot of places erudite liberals are not known to show up: men’s retreats, conspiracy theory forums, Noah’s Ark waterpark.
I found Barrett’s investigations of cultural zeitgeists interesting, but the essays that really pulled me in were the more personal ones about his older brother. This older brother roughed up Barrett often when they were kids, then as an adult got sucker punched outside a bar, banging his head so hard he went into a coma. After he woke up, he started hearing voices — until eventually he began to claim he had supernatural abilities. Had the brother become a clairvoyant — or a schizophrenic? Was there a difference between the two? Read this book if you like exploring the liminal spaces between perception and delusion, love and hate, disgust and desire.
I found Barrett’s investigations of cultural zeitgeists interesting, but the essays that really pulled me in were the more personal ones about his older brother. This older brother roughed up Barrett often when they were kids, then as an adult got sucker punched outside a bar, banging his head so hard he went into a coma. After he woke up, he started hearing voices — until eventually he began to claim he had supernatural abilities. Had the brother become a clairvoyant — or a schizophrenic? Was there a difference between the two? Read this book if you like exploring the liminal spaces between perception and delusion, love and hate, disgust and desire.
May 21, 2025
There's this class of essays where a few paragraphs in you know the author is a talented writer who has taken time to hone their craft. Usually the author whoever they're are teaching writing at some college and they themselves did an MFA from some other college, the Iowa writers workshop alumni rank highly in producing some of the most refined pieces of essays I have ever read. As of the writing of most of the essays in this collection Barrett taught writing and was also a graduate of an MFA program. We should never forget the initial writing talent that was honed by these activities.
Like its cousins, essays written by this ilk of authors have the writing topic competing with the writing itself, sometimes prose wins, other times the subject matter is more interesting. My favorite essay here was the one where he went to visit a new age development in Florida, there were raw essays on his brother's traumatic brain injury, the game of politics in America among others. Highly recommended.
Like its cousins, essays written by this ilk of authors have the writing topic competing with the writing itself, sometimes prose wins, other times the subject matter is more interesting. My favorite essay here was the one where he went to visit a new age development in Florida, there were raw essays on his brother's traumatic brain injury, the game of politics in America among others. Highly recommended.
August 7, 2021
3.5 stars. I came across LOST IN SUMMERLAND after reading Swanson's stellar piece on TikTok culture (do read!). I love me an essay collection, and Swanson is an engaging narrator as he observes and probes the peculiarities of living in America today; his best writing emerges when he reflects on his family. (Also: his vocabulary! A dictionary lover's dream.)
And yet the exhaustion, the selfishness, the notion that college students can't write, etc., etc. that Swanson continually points to grows repetitive. The book is impressive -- Swanson knows he can write, we all know that he can write -- but I finished it oddly and sadly unsatisfied. Maybe that's the point?
And yet the exhaustion, the selfishness, the notion that college students can't write, etc., etc. that Swanson continually points to grows repetitive. The book is impressive -- Swanson knows he can write, we all know that he can write -- but I finished it oddly and sadly unsatisfied. Maybe that's the point?
December 3, 2021
While the essays were very interesting (except the last one, which felt like book reviews for authors I’ve never read) I was often taken out of the story to look up words I’d never heard of. This book made me feel dumb - but how many of us know the words accretion, deliquesced, coruscating, or ensorcelled?
As I said, I enjoyed the essays but I think the author may need to “dumb down” any upcoming books for the general audience if he wants to sell more copies.
I won a copy of this book from the publisher.
As I said, I enjoyed the essays but I think the author may need to “dumb down” any upcoming books for the general audience if he wants to sell more copies.
I won a copy of this book from the publisher.
February 28, 2022
A couple of really solid essays here on life in the Midwest as told by a guy of very similar age and upbringing as me. Some other, less-solid essays. The topics of the essays were all intriguing choices, and in each essay, Swanson demonstrated some serious investigative chops. His word choice clearly shows his profession as English lit professor - at times this fanciness (for lack of a better term as I am clearly not an English lit professor) helped the writing, at other times I felt it distracted and detracted.
July 1, 2021
America is all kinds, ways
A separation planet
Essayists engaged in state of being
And conscious conflagration
Realize they are oxygenated cliches
And attempt and fail
To make the reader shed a single, singed tear.
Those born in the United States
Are Native Americans, i.e., native to the land
The proper term is American Indian.
#poem
Chris Roberts, Patron Saint of Part-Time, Celestial Beings
A separation planet
Essayists engaged in state of being
And conscious conflagration
Realize they are oxygenated cliches
And attempt and fail
To make the reader shed a single, singed tear.
Those born in the United States
Are Native Americans, i.e., native to the land
The proper term is American Indian.
#poem
Chris Roberts, Patron Saint of Part-Time, Celestial Beings
May 29, 2024
This is a 3.5, in my opinion. Some of the essays were poignant and well written but others felt repetitive and depressing. I picked up the book because he tackles topics such as toxic masculinity, the politics of the early 2000s, veterans issues, and mental health problems plaguing our society. He courageously goes on a search for meaning to escape his depression but sadly, he doesn’t seem to find it. I hope, wherever he is, Barrett Swanson is doing ok.
February 5, 2023
Essays of underbelly American tropes and values Swanson explores cultish fringe culture that caters to anyone and everyone. We get to know Barrett in the first essays and bit by bit more which helps to imbue his soul to the reading, a kind of haunting presence and perspective - but when I think about it we're all kind of lost in Summerland, trapped in the in-between.
September 17, 2024
This book is a collection of essays on varying topics, some of which I found very compelling. But I ended up with mixed feelings overall as others were much less interesting to me, and didn't always feel like they had much to say to justify their inclusion in the book. I'd definitely recommend one or two of the best ones to others, but not necessarily the whole collection.
November 5, 2023
Original vision of the US at a specific place and time: Trump in office, post-Hurricane Katrina, working with disaffected, screen-addicted college students, finding resonances in literature. It's a joy to follow the author's thinking and sentences.
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