City native’s ‘Summer of ’85’ back in print
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City native Richard Fellinger's fiction novel, "Summer of '85," is back in print.
Independent literary press Serving House Books re-released Fellinger's award-winning novel on Sunday with a new preface written by the author, now available in paperback through Bookshop.com, Barnes and Noble and Amazon.
"Summer of '85" follows Dan Fehr, who finds out that his first love, Cara Cassaday, was among the victims of a gun massacre in a Philly hoagie shop. Processing Cassaday's death, Fehr grapples with Cassaday's death and their lost love.
In a world where many are desensitized to mass shootings, Fellinger, who now lives in Harrisburg, said his novel sheds light on the subject's harsh reality and emotional aftermath.
"I think it's a book that matters, is terribly relevant and deserves to be in the world," Fellinger said.
Originally published in 2021 with TouchPoint Press, Fellinger's novel won the Novel Excerpt Contest at Seven Hills Review and was a finalist for the American Fiction Award and a distinguished favorite for the NYC Big Book Award.
TouchPoint Press folded in 2024, and they returned the rights of "Summer of '85" to Fellinger. He later published an electronic version of the novel through BookBaby.
Serving House Books published Fellinger's next novel, "An American Girl," which was released in 2025 and won the Thomas E. Kennedy Novel Award. Fellinger spoke with the publisher, William K. Lawerence, about "Summer of '85," stating that the novel featured some of his best work and held an important message.
Lawerence then suggested re-releasing the book through Serving House Books after the country was reeling from the mass shooting at the White House correspondents dinner in late April, Fellinger said.
"'Summer of '85' is an important book for our times and it needed to go back into publication to stand beside Richard's other important book about book bans 'An American Girl,'" Lawrence said.
Fellinger said he's glad that his story is available through a publishing house again.
"My book died and came back, and I'm very happy about that," he said.