Writings from the New Yorker 1927-1976

Writings from the New Yorker 1927-1976 by E.B. White
For years E.B. White, the beloved author of Charlotte’s Web, among other things, contributed a number of short editorial pieces to The New Yorker Magazine, most of which were published anonymously. Three years after his death, Editor Rebecca Dale re-discovered these previously uncollected snippets and published them altogether in this amazing edition. Poetic, funny, ironic, and insightful, White’s musings span a variety of subjects, from nature to politics. But I’ll let White speak for himself; take this relevant reverie on “summertime”:
“Summertime this year is a ripe girl who finds herself forsaken by the boys, the ordinarily attentive and desirous boys. They are nowhere to be found; they have disappeared, the way males do, seized by some sudden mechanical flirtation, some new interest of a passing sort […] we had summertime practically to ourself the other afternoon, and in our guilt we lay with her in the name of all who were temporarily denied the privilege admiring her incredible poise. The scent of her clothes was unmistakable; her sea, her sand, her sky wore the same look as ever; the insects which are her private minstrels sang the same seductive measure. We have never seen a discarded female more sure of where she stood than summertime. (8/11/44)”