A Thousand Benjamins

by Michael Kun

After twenty years of marriage, Marry Jude has had enough of Benjamin. "A thousand Benjamins couldn’t make me happy," she says. Lost in the numbness of habit and the undertow of memories, Benjamin meets Kim, a woman eighteen years his junior who bears a sadness in her green eyes that is connected to a scar that runs from the base of her throat to her ribs. Slowly, these two people, who for entirely different reasons believe themselves beyond repair, begin to admit that this might actually be the time of their lives.

Genres: Fiction

360 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Michael Kun lives in Los Angeles, California. He practices law when he is not writing, or vice versa.

Reviews

[Lee Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was given this book (along w/ probably 20 other books!) by a friend who tutors where I tutor.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. This was Kun's first book. It's about Benjamin, his wife, Kimberly (whom Ben meets after his wife leaves him), Ben's brother, and several others.

The book is sometimes sad, often funny, and always thought-provoking.

There are 27 chapters, each with a title that perfectly captures the main idea / event.

The two main characters, Ben and Kim, have serious and very different problems. They involve the loss of a wife of twenty years (Ben), and a medical condition caused by an operation when she was younger (Kim). Ben's brother struggles because he feels he is responsible for the death of his father.

The cover of the book is a picture of a clock. Time is an important theme. One's life is an ever-changing, cyclical experience. Ben dreams often. The reader learns what's going on via time jumps.

You will grow to love Kim. Her imagination, and quick wit are endearing.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book many years ago and it gripped me from the first page. I often go back to read it at different stages of my life. It never disappoints. It’s one of my favorites.

[Camilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, you must forgive me in advance, because this is the 5th book from this author that I’ve read, and loved them all, so this review might be biased.. Or maybe it won’t, we’ll see..

As I said this is the 5th book I’ve read by Mr. Kun, which is a bit strange considering this is the first book he wrote, I think, so maybe I should have started out with this one. If you’re reading this review, while not having read a Kun book before, you should probably not read this as your first one though. Because wow, this is different from the other Kun books I’ve read. They are so different that I would never in a million years, have guessed that this was a Kun book, had it not been for the preface, which is very Kun-ish. Just a warning. I’m not sure I would have jumped on his other books, had this been my first.

If you start reading this, while smiling and in a happy mood, you will soon be frowning and on the edge of depression. It’s very heavy. (How is it possible that a 24 year old college kid wrote this? I just don’t get that.. Really? 24? I thought 24 year old college kids would write about all the women they wanted to… umm.. meet up with.. not this.. 24? Really?)

It’s about Benjamin, a 40-something guy, whose wife leaves him. It’s about him growing up and < cliché on > finding himself < /cliché off >. But Benjamin hasn’t had an easy life, so there’s a lot for him to “overcome” and work through.. You get POV’s from Ben as he’s growing up too, all while trying to deal with all these things happening to him everyone around him.

I had such a hard time figuring out Ben. I couldn’t understand why he was so.. slow (not in the mental way though) and I just wanted to shake him up.. *wake up, wake up, wake up* Benjamin is the main thing in this book, and he’s just so… consuming. Yes, I guess that’s a good word. He consumes everything; every single word in the book becomes that much heavier because Benjamin and his heavy mind is everywhere and everything all at once. I wish I was smart enough to review this book properly because there were parts in the book, that I’m sure had a lot of symbolic meaning, which was lost on me..

Let me get to the part that I did get..

Benjamin meets a younger woman, almost 20 years his junior, and this woman – Kim – is also a troubled young soul. Just like Ben she too has some emotional scars she needs to overcome, and I was soo rooting for her! I was sooo rooting for her and Ben. Maybe because she reminded me of myself. They were such a strange couple. But more than anything I just wanted them to work. Wanted them to help each other.. Which is also why I didn’t really like the ex-wife Mary Joe, Mary Jane, Mary Jack, Mary Jewel, Mary Jude. Nope, didn’t like her. And that little stunt she pulled off in the hospital bed? Oh hell no, she didn’t!

Yes, I love, love, loved Benjamin and Kim which is why I ended up with tears in my eyes at the end! Yay Ben! Good boy! even with all that sexual frustration.. God, I wanted those two to.. get it on! *pheww*

Throughout reading this book, it was a 2-3 star rating for me, because of the heaviness and how it was sometimes dragged out, but with that ending, and the fact that it surprised me with characters I’ve met in his other books, like Earl and his smirk, and also the fact that I ended up with tears in my eyes at the end, it has to be 4 stars from me to Benjamin and Kim.. I hope its forever!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was disappointed that this novel didn't have the intelligence and wit that I've come to expect from Michael Kun. I'm still giving it three stars because the characters were poignant and believable; I thought about them when I wasn't reading the book, which is something I rarely do. It's so interesting to go back and read an author's early work.

[Trisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This whole thing about the author being dead even though he isn't is making me laugh so hard right now. Anyway, there was something about this book that made Benjamin seem sincere, which was why I kept reading. It was definitely an interesting read.