July, July

by O'Brien, Tim

• ISBN13: 9780618039692
• ISBN10: 0618039694
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-10-01
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Summary

Tim O'Brien is widely acclaimed as our finest chronicler of the Vietnam War and its afermath. In his ambitious, compassionate, and terrifically compelling new novel, this American master returns to his signature themes -- passion, memory, and yearning -- in a brilliant ensemble piece. July, July tells the heart-rending and often hilarious story of a group of men and women who came into adulthood at a moment when American ideals and innocence began to fade. Their lives will ring familiar to anyone who has dreamed big dreams, suffered disappointment, and still struggled toward a happy ending. At the thirtieth reunion of Minnesota's Darton Hall College class of 1969, ten old friends join their classmates for a July weekend of dancing, drinking, flirting, reminiscing, regretting. The three decades since their graduation have seen marriage and divorce, children and careers, hopes deferred and abandoned. Two best friends toast their ex-husbands with vodka and set out for a good time. A damaged war veteran opens his soul to a Republican trophy wife recovering from a radical mastectomy. An overweight mop manufacturer with a large yet failing heart reignites his passion for a hyperkinetic housewife. And whispering in the background is the elusive Johnny Ever, part cynical angel, part conscience, the cosmic soul of ages past and of ages future. Winner of the National Book Award for his classic novel Going After Cacciato, Tim O'Brien once again strikes at the emotional nerve center of our lives. With humor and a sense of wistful hope, July, July speaks directly to our unique American character, and to our unique resilience.

Author Biography

TIM O’BRIEN received the 1979 National Book Award in fiction for Going After Cacciato. His other works include the acclaimed novels The Things They Carried and July, July. In the Lake of the Woods received the James Fenimore Cooper Prize from the Society of American Historians and was named the best novel of 1994 by Time. O’Brien lives in Austin, Texas.

Excerpts

Class of 69 The reunion dance had started only an hour ago, but already a good many of the dancers were tipsy, and most others were well along, and now the gossip was flowing and confessions were under way and old flames were being extinguished and rekindled under cardboard stars in the Darton Hall College gymnasium. Amy Robinson was telling Jan Huebner, a former roommate, about the murder last year of Karen Burns, another former roommate. "Its such a Karen sort of thing," Amy said. "Getting killed like that. Nobody else. Only Karen." "Right," Jan said. She waited a moment. "Move your tongue, sugar. Details." Amy made a weary, dispirited movement with her shoulders. "Nothing new, Im afraid. Same old Karen story, naive as a valentine. Trust the world. Get squished." "Poor girl," Jan said. "Poor woman," said Amy. Jan winced and said, "Woman, corpse, whatever. Still single, I suppose? Karen?" "Naturally." "And some guy -?" "Naturally." "God," Jan said. "Yeah, yeah," said Amy. Earlier in the evening, they had liberated a bottle of Darton Hall vodka, which was now almost gone, and both of them were feeling the sting of strong spirits and misplaced sentiment. They were fifty-three years old. They were drunk. They were divorced. Time and heartbreak had exacted a toll. Amy Robinson still had her boyish figure, her button nose and freckles, but collegiate perkiness had been replaced by something taut and haggard. Jan Huebner had never been perky. Shed never been pretty, or cute, or even passable, and at the moment her bleached hair and plucked eyebrows and Midnight Plum lipstick offered only the most dubious correctives. "What I love about men," Jan was saying, "is their basic overall cockiness. That much I adore. Follow me?" "I do," said Amy. "Take away that, what the heck have you got?" "Youve got zero." "Ha!" said Jan. "Cheers," said Amy. "Pricks," said Jan. They fell quiet then, sipping vodka, watching the class of 69 rediscover itself on a polished gymnasium dance floor. Unofficially, this was a thirtieth reunion - one year tardy due to someones oversight, an irony that had been much discussed over cocktails that evening, and much joked about, though not yet entirely deciphered. Still, it made them feel special. And so, too, did the fact that they were convening on a deserted campus, in the heart of summer, more than a month after the standard graduation-day gatherings. The school had a forlorn, haunted feel to it, many memories, many ghosts, which seemed appropriate. "Well," Jan Huebner finally said. "Bad news, of course - Karens dead. But heres some good news. Gal never went through a divorce." "Thats a fact," said Amy. "I mean, ouch." "Ouch is accurate," Amy said. Jan nodded. "Twenty-nine years, almost thirty, and guess what? That slick ex-hubby of mine, Richard the Oily, he grins and waves at me and strolls out the door. Doesnt walk, doesnt run. Strolls. Talk about mu

---

Excerpted from July, July: A Novel by Tim O'Brien
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.