Whitehead proves himself, among many other things, a poet of the American summer and its aspirations ... in Whitehead's hands [the setting], reeking of burning sucrose, is the perfect theatre for every anxiety of puberty: monetary, digestive, racial, sexual and criminal ... this remarkable novel goes far beyond gentle musings on awkward youth ... In this elegiac, spirited prose there are echoes of Melville, one of the first to write about Sag ... Whitehead's language here is relaxed and playful, a tribute to youth. But Ben's take on life is a fond, proud, nervy shout, and a triumph of rueful reason.
Whitehead’s delicious language and sarcastic, clever voice fit this teenager who’s slowly constructing himself ... Still, with the story meandering like a teenager’s attention, the book feels more like a memoir than a traditional plot-driven novel. It’s easy to come away thinking not much happens — Whitehead has said as much — but Sag Harbor mirrors life, which is also plotless ... It’s time for us to hear more post-black stories like [Benji's].
... a charming autobiographical novel that comes honey-glazed with nostalgia ... Whitehead is sharpest on the plight of well-off black kids, his tone wavering between resigned sympathy and impatient mockery ... [Benji's] fragile hope may be the most irresistible quality of this wise, affectionate novel.
Whitehead's charm and low-key wit make a good case for logging off [the Internet] and reading his book ... Whitehead's stylistic talents are amply on display ... Whitehead has a David Foster Wallace-esque knack for punctuating meticulously figurative constructions with deadpan slacker wit ... Language, humor, riff, anecdote... these are what the book offers in place of a sustained storyline. You can't help but admire Whitehead's writerly gifts, but there's something idling and indolent about his method here ... For all its amusements and felicities of language, Sag Harbor never dives very far below the surface. Emotionally, it's a low-stakes affair, which is another way of saying it's a little too much like summer for its own good.
... bemusing ... The novel is best at capturing the sense of a teenager tasting independence and creating a summer identity away from his prep school ... But if he's short on action, Whitehead embroiders his themes with sharp observations on race and popular culture. A few passages are chilling ... Sag Harbor is not as ambitious as Whitehead's [previous works] ... It's a novel in which the sum is less than the parts, but enough parts make it worthwhile reading.
Evoking a particular time and place, Sag Harbor, like ['American Graffiti'], captures a slice of teenage life during one carefree summer. Whitehead nails the lingo and the soundtrack of the period just right ... Making only a passing reference to his characters' future, Whitehead paints a remarkable portrait of a moment in time when one group of young black teens teetered between childhood and manhood on the edge of the Hamptons ... But this glimpse into the future awaiting these boys of summer is maddeningly vague ... Does it matter? I think it does. Lumping the fates of all these kids together, as if their lives and those summers in Sag Harbor were experienced by a group rather than by individuals, seems an idea more worthy of a 15-year-old than his older, wiser self.
... [Whitehead will] likely reach a wider readership with his warmest novel to date. Funniest as well ... the first-person narrator has the novelist’s eye for detail, craft of character development and analytical instincts for sharp social commentary. Not as thematically ambitious as Whitehead’s earlier work, but a whole lot of fun to read.
Benji's funny and touching story progresses leisurely toward Labor Day, but his reflections on what's gone before provide a roadmap to what comes later, resolving social conflicts that, at least this year, have yet to explode.
