How long is it?
224 pages in the Vintage 1999 paperback edition.
Fiction · Novel · Literary Fiction · Literary fiction
A Summons to Memphis
CanonicalPulitzer Prize for Fiction, 1987Reading facts
✓ Checked- Reading effort
- 51 / 100Moderate
- Length
- 224 pagesVintage · 1999
- Reading time
- 4 h 30 minat 50 pages an hour ·
- Pace
- Measured
- Emotional intensity
- 3 / 5
About 4 h 30 min · at 30 minutes a day, about 9 days
Estimated from the page count of this edition. Dense books can take longer than the estimate.
About the book
New York editor Phillip Carver receives calls from his two unmarried sisters asking him to return to Memphis and prevent their widowed father from marrying a younger woman. Their demand revives memories of the family's move from Nashville after his father's financial betrayal by a friend, and of his father's interference in his children's relationships. Despite the distance Phillip has established, his sisters continue to draw him into the family's disputes.
Reader notes
Quiet and psychologically detailed, the literary novel unfolds through Phillip's circling first-person recollections. Incidents recur as he reconsiders their meaning, so the reading is less a steady advance through events than a gradual reassessment of family grievances.
How it reads
- Writing style
- Descriptive · Essayistic
- Tone
- Intimate · Melancholic · Reflective · Wistful
- Structure
- Nonlinear
- Driven by
- Character · Relationships · Voice
- Point of view
- First person
- Setting
- Memphis, Tennessee · Nashville, Tennessee · New York City
Reading complexity
- Writing
- 4 / 5
- Ideas
- 3 / 5
- Structure
- 4 / 5
- Background knowledge
- 1 / 5
About this profile
Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).
- Writing
- How much attention the sentences and language require.
- Ideas
- How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
- Structure
- How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
- Background knowledge
- Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
- Emotional intensity
- Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.
Themes
- Class
- Family
- Friendship
- Memory
- Redemption
- Revenge
Content notes
- Violence
- Mild
- Sexual content
- None
- Swearing
- None
- Substance use
- None
- Abuse
- Mild
- Self-harm or suicide
- None
Standing and awards
Canonical
- Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, 1987
- Los Angeles Times Book Prizes finalist, 1987
- National Book Award finalist, 1986
- National Book Critics Circle Award finalist, 1986
Questions readers ask
Which edition is shown here?
Vintage · 1999 · Paperback. ISBN 9780375701177.
How long does it take to read A Summons to Memphis?
About 4 hours 30 minutes at 50 pages an hour, based on the 224-page Vintage edition. Dense books can take longer.
If you liked this
Edition and details
- Publisher
- Vintage
- Publication year
- 1999
- Format
- Paperback
- Pages
- 224
- ISBN
- 9780375701177
- Edition language
- English
- Original language
- English
- First published
- 1986
- Genres and form
- Fiction · Novel · Literary Fiction · Literary fiction · Family saga · Psychological fiction
- Editions
- 8
- Languages
- 2 (English, Unspecified)