Last Days of Summer

Last Days of Summer is 1998 novel written by Steve Kluger. It is an epistolary novel told completely through forms of correspondence; letters, postcards, interviews with a psychiatrist, progress reports, and newspaper clippings.

Taking place in 1940s Brooklyn, the bulk of the novel consists of letters written between fictional New York Giants third baseman Charlie Banks and Jewish twelve-year-old Joey Margolis.

Joey Margolis, a Jewish boy growing up in a tough Italian neighbourhood, is burdened with beatings from neighborhood kids, his parents' divorce, and an absent father who repeatedly lets him down. In addition, he is worried about Adolf Hitler's rise in power. Craving a surrogate dad, Joey strikes up a correspondence with Charlie Banks, the third baseman for the New York Giants. That he does so by persistently nagging Charlie sets the tone not just for their ongoing correspondence but for a relationship that will change both their lives forever.

They have many adventures together, as Joey becomes a man and Charlie becomes the dad he never really had. (His father remarried a woman named Nana Bert and they never spend time with him or give him affection-his dad is not a father to him.) The first thing Joey does to get Charlie's attention is write letters to him about how he is dying of incurable diseases and only Charlie hitting a home run will save him. When Charlie doesn't listen, he writes to his on and off girlfriend Hazel McKay, a famous singer and actress in New York. She believes him, and breaks up with Charlie until he helps Joey. Eventually, he tells Hazel he made it all up, and he has another famous friend.

When the Shadows Beam

When the Shadows Beam is an EP released by Silverstein in 2002. Only limited copies were printed. The songs Red Light Pledge, Wish I Could Forget You, Bleeds No More, and Last Days of Summer were re-recorded and re-released on their debut album, When Broken Is Easily Fixed. The song Red Light Pledge also appeared on the compilation record, Punk Goes Acoustic 2. As was also done with their previous EP, Summer's Stellar Gaze, despite the fact that the EP was long out of print, it could still be purchased though the band's 2006 release, 18 Candles: The Early Years, a compilation album containing all of the songs from the band's first two EPs, as well as additional tracks. It is the band's first release with bassist Billy Hamilton and now former guitarist Neil Boshart. The former continues to be a member today, while the latter appears on every Silverstein release through Short Songs, with his departure later in 2012. The EP's title is derived from a line in "Last Days of Summer".