In Search of the Book "Hot Summer in the City"

 Somewhere between Ponce de Leon's search for the Fountain of Youth and the discovery of the Rosetta Stone by Egyptian archeologists, are the words to be found for describing my quest to find this book. After watching the movie "Hot Summer in the City" in 2014 and agreeing with Quentin Tarantino's assessment of its being 'The greatest porn movie of all time," I spent years looking for the book that supposedly inspired the movie. 

Incidently, I find the greatness of the movie actually lies not in the sex scenes, but in its compelling plot and complex character development which is somehow packed into a movie that is only an hour and 7 minutes long (and is still filled with lots sex and has a four minute scene devoted to the cooking of pork chops no less!). HSITC's accomplishments in character development for an X-rated film are truly unsurpassed.  That the plot revolves around racial unrest and the 1967 Detroit race riot makes HSITC just as relevant in today's BLM Era, as it was when the film was produced in the 1970s. One would think given the Tarantino accolades and the movie's inherent greatness, the book would be easy to find. 

Alas, as my seven year search proves, it is anything but. I spent years checking on ebay, online book stores, forum boards and elsewhere trying to find it, but my efforts were fruitless. I found one occassion in which it had been listed on ebay that was referenced in a forum board, but the writer had found the large price tag too prohibitive. Four years into my quest when I saw that post, my desire to own the book had become so great I feared I would mortgage my house if that was what it took to buy it.

Then one day a casual search on Google resulted in the fullfillment of my near decade's long ambition! The book was actually listed for sale on Etsy and at a price far, far less than I would have been willing to pay. I literally felt like I had struck gold (see the book pictured at top)!

 Now, having had the opportunity to read the book, I thought I would do a 3 Part Book Review, covering the same three day period as is covered by the movie. I will highlight significant differences between the two and interesting additional material found only in the book, and also re-print a few exerpts that exemplify the wonderful writing style of the author. The spirit of the book, both in terms of the characters and the backdrop of the racially turbulent times in the late 1960s, mirrors perfectly with the spirit of the movie, which serves to make the book every bit as extraordinary as the movie itself. Enjoy and please feel free to let me know if you have any questions or comments.