What do you think?
Rate this book
July, July
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.
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.
322 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2002
355 people are currently reading
2517 people want to read
About the author
Tim O'Brien
142 books3,345 followersTim O'Brien is an American novelist who served as a soldier in the Vietnam War. Much of his writing is about wartime Vietnam, and his work later in life often explores the postwar lives of its veterans.
O'Brien is perhaps best known for his book The Things They Carried (1990), a collection of linked semi-autobiographical stories inspired by his wartime experiences. In 2010, The New York Times described it as "a classic of contemporary war fiction." O'Brien wrote the war novel, Going After Cacciato (1978), which was awarded the National Book Award.
O'Brien taught creative writing, holding the endowed chair at the MFA program of Texas State University–San Marcos every other academic year from 2003 to 2012.
O'Brien is perhaps best known for his book The Things They Carried (1990), a collection of linked semi-autobiographical stories inspired by his wartime experiences. In 2010, The New York Times described it as "a classic of contemporary war fiction." O'Brien wrote the war novel, Going After Cacciato (1978), which was awarded the National Book Award.
O'Brien taught creative writing, holding the endowed chair at the MFA program of Texas State University–San Marcos every other academic year from 2003 to 2012.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 372 reviews
January 8, 2026
ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE
Washington 15 novembre 1969: quarta marcia di protesta contro la guerra in Vietnam.
La guerra continuava. La gente mangiava Raisin Bran. C’erano nuovi orfani, nuove vedove e nuove madri con un figlio eroe. Quell’estate morirono tremila e venti soldati americani, e più di settemila vietnamiti. La gente prendeva l’aspirina per il mal di testa. Nei ristoranti eleganti i clienti chiedevano il sacchetto con gli avanzi per il cane. La Dow Chemical fece una strage. Da una costa all’altra, su strade di campagna, in grandi città sonnolente, c’erano meschine gelosie, liste della spesa, fantasie erotiche e stomaci in disordine. La terra continuava a girare.
La base militare US a Chu Lai in Vietnam.
Non era saggio aspettarsi che il mondo potesse cambiare e migliorare per l’opera e l’impegno di quella classe.
Diplomati al college nel 1969, nel pieno di quegli anni mitici – e cioè: le prime marce per la pace con centinaia di migliaia di persone che invadevano Washington; l’uomo che camminava sulla luna, e da subito ci fu l’esercito di complottisti che immaginò si trattasse di una bufala, o di una burla, addirittura si dette la responsabilità a Stanley Kubrick; l’anno prima qualcuno sparava e uccideva sia Robert Kennedy che il reverendo Martin Luther King; Tricky Dicky, più noto col nome di Richard Nixon, reggeva le sorti della prima potenza, che non avrebbe potuto scegliere mani più dubbie cui affidarsi…
Il decollo dell’Apollo 11, i primi ad arrivare sulla Luna.
No davvero, non ci si poteva aspettare grandi cose da quella classe del ’69 che avrebbe impegnato la vita soprattutto a non lasciarsi scappare la giovinezza. Senza riuscirci. E tanto, si sa, è una lotta persa in partenza.
E quando si ritrovano, per il trentennale - qualcuno ha toppato e ha lasciato passare un anno per errore, per cui il trentennale viene festeggiato nel luglio del 2000 invece che del 1999 – il rimpianto e il fallimento regnano sovrani tra loro e su loro. E anche chi ce l’ha fatta, che di solito vuol dire soldi e comodità, sembra che abbia trascorso il tempo sul sedile posteriore della propria vita.
Credevano che i sogni si potessero realizzare, volevano il paradiso in terra perché erano giovani, poco più che adolescenti, o perché erano gli anni Sessanta?
Il funerale di Martin Luther King.
Ma da quale classe sarebbe lecito e giusto aspettarsi di più? Non è forse sempre lo stesso gioco, cambiare la vita prima che la vita cambi noi?
O’Brien alterna capitoli, i più lunghi ritornano indietro, raccontano le vicende vissute dagli stessi personaggi, cosa è successo a ciascuno, ma senza inchiodarli al 1969, anzi, la maggior parte di queste narrazioni è piuttosto a ridosso del raduno, sul finire dello scorso millennio.
I capitoli più brevi, invece, descrivono la serata, i protagonisti ballare durante la festa, flirtare e bere come spugne, le scopate, quelle andate in porto e quelle molto più numerose rimaste virtuali, la mattina dopo, l’hangover a colazione, il caldo che uccide in quel Minnesota:
Tricky Dicky
Su tutti vince il secondo capitolo, quello che racconta di un soldato che in Vietnam baratta una gamba con la propria vita in un dialogo con la morfina e la morte che ha la voce dello speaker di Radio Da Nang, radio Universo.
A seguire metterei il pastore donna che a cinquantatre anni è ancora in magnifica forma fisica, deve ancora scoprire l’amore, che le manca, assenza che le rovina la carriera, ma…
”Nessun Vietcong mi ha mai chiamato negro”. Con queste parole nel 1967 Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali rifiutò di adempiere il servizio militare e partecipare alla guerra in Vietnam: era campione del mondo dei pesi massimi, gli tolsero il titolo e la licenza di boxer, in aggiunta a una condanna a 5 anni.
Washington 15 novembre 1969: quarta marcia di protesta contro la guerra in Vietnam.
La guerra continuava. La gente mangiava Raisin Bran. C’erano nuovi orfani, nuove vedove e nuove madri con un figlio eroe. Quell’estate morirono tremila e venti soldati americani, e più di settemila vietnamiti. La gente prendeva l’aspirina per il mal di testa. Nei ristoranti eleganti i clienti chiedevano il sacchetto con gli avanzi per il cane. La Dow Chemical fece una strage. Da una costa all’altra, su strade di campagna, in grandi città sonnolente, c’erano meschine gelosie, liste della spesa, fantasie erotiche e stomaci in disordine. La terra continuava a girare.
La base militare US a Chu Lai in Vietnam.
Non era saggio aspettarsi che il mondo potesse cambiare e migliorare per l’opera e l’impegno di quella classe.
Diplomati al college nel 1969, nel pieno di quegli anni mitici – e cioè: le prime marce per la pace con centinaia di migliaia di persone che invadevano Washington; l’uomo che camminava sulla luna, e da subito ci fu l’esercito di complottisti che immaginò si trattasse di una bufala, o di una burla, addirittura si dette la responsabilità a Stanley Kubrick; l’anno prima qualcuno sparava e uccideva sia Robert Kennedy che il reverendo Martin Luther King; Tricky Dicky, più noto col nome di Richard Nixon, reggeva le sorti della prima potenza, che non avrebbe potuto scegliere mani più dubbie cui affidarsi…
Il decollo dell’Apollo 11, i primi ad arrivare sulla Luna.
No davvero, non ci si poteva aspettare grandi cose da quella classe del ’69 che avrebbe impegnato la vita soprattutto a non lasciarsi scappare la giovinezza. Senza riuscirci. E tanto, si sa, è una lotta persa in partenza.
E quando si ritrovano, per il trentennale - qualcuno ha toppato e ha lasciato passare un anno per errore, per cui il trentennale viene festeggiato nel luglio del 2000 invece che del 1999 – il rimpianto e il fallimento regnano sovrani tra loro e su loro. E anche chi ce l’ha fatta, che di solito vuol dire soldi e comodità, sembra che abbia trascorso il tempo sul sedile posteriore della propria vita.
Credevano che i sogni si potessero realizzare, volevano il paradiso in terra perché erano giovani, poco più che adolescenti, o perché erano gli anni Sessanta?
Il funerale di Martin Luther King.
Ma da quale classe sarebbe lecito e giusto aspettarsi di più? Non è forse sempre lo stesso gioco, cambiare la vita prima che la vita cambi noi?
O’Brien alterna capitoli, i più lunghi ritornano indietro, raccontano le vicende vissute dagli stessi personaggi, cosa è successo a ciascuno, ma senza inchiodarli al 1969, anzi, la maggior parte di queste narrazioni è piuttosto a ridosso del raduno, sul finire dello scorso millennio.
I capitoli più brevi, invece, descrivono la serata, i protagonisti ballare durante la festa, flirtare e bere come spugne, le scopate, quelle andate in porto e quelle molto più numerose rimaste virtuali, la mattina dopo, l’hangover a colazione, il caldo che uccide in quel Minnesota:
Tricky Dicky
Su tutti vince il secondo capitolo, quello che racconta di un soldato che in Vietnam baratta una gamba con la propria vita in un dialogo con la morfina e la morte che ha la voce dello speaker di Radio Da Nang, radio Universo.
A seguire metterei il pastore donna che a cinquantatre anni è ancora in magnifica forma fisica, deve ancora scoprire l’amore, che le manca, assenza che le rovina la carriera, ma…
”Nessun Vietcong mi ha mai chiamato negro”. Con queste parole nel 1967 Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali rifiutò di adempiere il servizio militare e partecipare alla guerra in Vietnam: era campione del mondo dei pesi massimi, gli tolsero il titolo e la licenza di boxer, in aggiunta a una condanna a 5 anni.
January 12, 2016
I have read with dismay some of the negative reviews of this amazing text. Frankly, I don't get it. I am not a product of the Vietnam generation (I am 30) but that is not the primary power of the novel. Rather the power of this text is the truth that it reveals about human nature, dreams, and maturation. People have complained that some of the characters are one dimensional ( I don't see it), boring, unlikable, selfish, etc. Yeah folks, that's the point! Look around you. Do you not know a plethora of people like this in your world? And yet, they are still people, who share with us a common humanity. If anything "July,July" is too painfully real, precisely because at times it is so unpleasant. All of the characters are flawed, as are all of us, and yet most of us can find in this text some sentiment that expresses some desire of our own.
As I finished this text I thought of that great line from Orwell's "1984" where he writes that (paraphrase) "great books tell us what we already know". O'Brien accomplishes just that in this text. That is why it resonates long after the last page. Because at some point in the novel he has articulated a feeling, thought, desire, etc that we the readers have felt in our own lives.
The ending of this novel is especially powerful as, in a very cinematic style, it shows how in all groups of friends some lose in this game of life. Some give up, some die, some try to rectify mistakes, some try again, and some remain ignorantly oblivious. My chest tightened with the immediate recognition of reality as I swept thought the novel's final chapter. I know that when I reread this book later in my life there will be something more for me to reflect upon, something different to see in its truth, and that is why this novel is a remarkable read. I cannot recommend it enough.
As I finished this text I thought of that great line from Orwell's "1984" where he writes that (paraphrase) "great books tell us what we already know". O'Brien accomplishes just that in this text. That is why it resonates long after the last page. Because at some point in the novel he has articulated a feeling, thought, desire, etc that we the readers have felt in our own lives.
The ending of this novel is especially powerful as, in a very cinematic style, it shows how in all groups of friends some lose in this game of life. Some give up, some die, some try to rectify mistakes, some try again, and some remain ignorantly oblivious. My chest tightened with the immediate recognition of reality as I swept thought the novel's final chapter. I know that when I reread this book later in my life there will be something more for me to reflect upon, something different to see in its truth, and that is why this novel is a remarkable read. I cannot recommend it enough.
July 25, 2023
…they discussed the issue of turning points. They agreed that a human life mostly erased itself at the instant it was lived. They agreed, too, that out of their own combined time on earth, which amounted to more than a century, only a scant few hours survived in memory.
Summer 1969: a dreaming generation awake to the world, arms wide.
Summer 2000: a numbed generation stuck on replay and addicted to the what-if and was-it-worth-it.
The living character of memory, the lifelong reverie, the expectant suffering, the brilliant hope, and the patience to continue: July, July.
Summer 1969: a dreaming generation awake to the world, arms wide.
Summer 2000: a numbed generation stuck on replay and addicted to the what-if and was-it-worth-it.
The living character of memory, the lifelong reverie, the expectant suffering, the brilliant hope, and the patience to continue: July, July.
January 26, 2023
I had been feeling a bit fed up with genre fiction lately due to my latest choices not turning out to be as good as I had anticipated, and I was in the mood for something particularly Minnesota. The obvious choice of books in this case is something by a familiar author.
Tim O'Brien is a personal favorite, but that doesn't have anything to do with his handling of prose or vivid imagery or overall practiced writing skills. It's simply because his writing is familiar to me regardless of what the topic or issue his fiction is tackling, and returning to his words is like coming home again. Ironically, though, not being able to go home again is a major theme that runs through his work.
The older I get, the more I find myself aligned to Tim O'Brien's writing. Appreciative, sure. Often in awe, yes. But the term that feels closest to what I'm feeling is "aligned."
So is this book good? No, probably not to most people and not one of O'Brien's best work.
Then why the high rating? Because it speaks to me. I picked it up with the intention of starting the first chapter and then ended up staying up most the night to read about a bunch of characters past their prime, who lack the self-awareness to accept it, rant about their lives and catalog their greatest disappointments. And I really did think: yeah, this is exactly what I'm in the mood for right now. Moods are fickle little mysteries.
Tim O'Brien is a personal favorite, but that doesn't have anything to do with his handling of prose or vivid imagery or overall practiced writing skills. It's simply because his writing is familiar to me regardless of what the topic or issue his fiction is tackling, and returning to his words is like coming home again. Ironically, though, not being able to go home again is a major theme that runs through his work.
The older I get, the more I find myself aligned to Tim O'Brien's writing. Appreciative, sure. Often in awe, yes. But the term that feels closest to what I'm feeling is "aligned."
So is this book good? No, probably not to most people and not one of O'Brien's best work.
Then why the high rating? Because it speaks to me. I picked it up with the intention of starting the first chapter and then ended up staying up most the night to read about a bunch of characters past their prime, who lack the self-awareness to accept it, rant about their lives and catalog their greatest disappointments. And I really did think: yeah, this is exactly what I'm in the mood for right now. Moods are fickle little mysteries.
October 15, 2012
This is, for certain, a difficult book. I usually knock off a book of this size in two days. This one took me four days. There are about a dozen fairly major characters in it, and as many people have commented, it is very difficult to keep all of the voices distinct.
Nonetheless, I eventually told myself to relax and not be so concerned with who was who (or who was fucking or not fucking who), and suddenly, the purpose of the book became clear to me. O'Brien is evoking a time in America that I never experienced (I was born in the year of the re-union he centers the book around). Tim O'Brien's talent is as an "evoker" -- just as he did so masterfully in The Things They Carried -- he eventually gives you the sense of the time these people lived through, the shadow of the Vietnam war hovering over them, the sexual liberation of women mixed with the need to find a partner, etc., and how it permeates their lives thirty years later.
I did a Wikipedia search on O'Brien and found this wonderful interview he did for something called Big Think:
http://bigthink.com/timobrien#!video_...
He's the type of author that gets what the purpose of writing is. Watch it. I'm sure you'll be impressed. I kind of am in love with the guy (mind you, I always have a thing for old, wise, kind dudes -- they make the best Dads ... and lovers).
Nonetheless, I eventually told myself to relax and not be so concerned with who was who (or who was fucking or not fucking who), and suddenly, the purpose of the book became clear to me. O'Brien is evoking a time in America that I never experienced (I was born in the year of the re-union he centers the book around). Tim O'Brien's talent is as an "evoker" -- just as he did so masterfully in The Things They Carried -- he eventually gives you the sense of the time these people lived through, the shadow of the Vietnam war hovering over them, the sexual liberation of women mixed with the need to find a partner, etc., and how it permeates their lives thirty years later.
I did a Wikipedia search on O'Brien and found this wonderful interview he did for something called Big Think:
http://bigthink.com/timobrien#!video_...
He's the type of author that gets what the purpose of writing is. Watch it. I'm sure you'll be impressed. I kind of am in love with the guy (mind you, I always have a thing for old, wise, kind dudes -- they make the best Dads ... and lovers).
September 15, 2014
I have hit the highs (five stars for The Things They Carried) and the lows (one star for Tomcat in Love) for Tim O’Brien. And ensemble cast (like the one that appears in this book) means the old TV show “thirtysomething” or the movie “The Big Chill” to me – very good things! So I have high hopes for this book but am prepared for the worst! What will it be, Tim?
This is another of the nostalgia about Vietnam books for me. How can that still be? There is even a section about a guy who goes to Canada rather than be drafted. He is set to fly off with his true love but then she doesn’t show up. She is a Republican and supports the war so it is probably for the best. But she stays and marries his best friend! Have we gotten to the too much part for you yet? Well, when I am dealing with nostalgia, the too much part is pretty far out there so I am reveling in it. (But it is important to realize that reveling and reviling are close cousins.) He still loves her, of course, when he forgets he hates her. So they meet at the thirtieth reunion, which, after all, is what hangs this book together. July 1969 to July 2000. Yes, I know that is 31 and not 30. There is a reason.
In some ways this is like a string of short stories with the class reunion holding them all together. There is, as promised, some humor but it turns out I don’t much like humor in war stories. But for the most part this is definitely not a war story. Why do I want to keep believing that Tim O’Brien writes war stories, Vietnam War stories? He did do some of that and did it well, but with July, July he mostly writes about people after the war. I have been disappointed by each of his books that were tangential to the war. Lots of us lived through the Vietnam era but never had a direct Vietnam experience. But we all had the aftermath.
This book is definitely better than just OK but not up to my expectations for Tim O’Brien. The problem is that none of his work lives up to The Things They Carried. For me, that is a high bar. So my recommendation is always to start with that, follow up with In the Lake of the Woods and then move to other authors.
July, July gets three stars, nothing to be ashamed of, but is light reading compared to O’Brien’s best work. The ending, flashing conclusions from character to character, has a bit of the happy but unlikely Hollywood ending drama that left me with a feel good but unreal, sappy taste in my mouth.
This is another of the nostalgia about Vietnam books for me. How can that still be? There is even a section about a guy who goes to Canada rather than be drafted. He is set to fly off with his true love but then she doesn’t show up. She is a Republican and supports the war so it is probably for the best. But she stays and marries his best friend! Have we gotten to the too much part for you yet? Well, when I am dealing with nostalgia, the too much part is pretty far out there so I am reveling in it. (But it is important to realize that reveling and reviling are close cousins.) He still loves her, of course, when he forgets he hates her. So they meet at the thirtieth reunion, which, after all, is what hangs this book together. July 1969 to July 2000. Yes, I know that is 31 and not 30. There is a reason.
In some ways this is like a string of short stories with the class reunion holding them all together. There is, as promised, some humor but it turns out I don’t much like humor in war stories. But for the most part this is definitely not a war story. Why do I want to keep believing that Tim O’Brien writes war stories, Vietnam War stories? He did do some of that and did it well, but with July, July he mostly writes about people after the war. I have been disappointed by each of his books that were tangential to the war. Lots of us lived through the Vietnam era but never had a direct Vietnam experience. But we all had the aftermath.
This book is definitely better than just OK but not up to my expectations for Tim O’Brien. The problem is that none of his work lives up to The Things They Carried. For me, that is a high bar. So my recommendation is always to start with that, follow up with In the Lake of the Woods and then move to other authors.
July, July gets three stars, nothing to be ashamed of, but is light reading compared to O’Brien’s best work. The ending, flashing conclusions from character to character, has a bit of the happy but unlikely Hollywood ending drama that left me with a feel good but unreal, sappy taste in my mouth.
July 20, 2013
This book concerns the trials and tribulations of a handful of fifty-somethings stupid enough to attend their thritieth college class reunion.
There are the usual hook-ups, spats and broken hearts, and for those who believe O'Brien is capable of writing about nothing else, one bloody Vietnam flashback.
The story was interesting for a while, but my attention easily drifted elsewhere. The characters all seemed to use the same voice, and none of their stories were very compelling.
Sad to say, but I feel almost certain that if this book had been written by a woman, it would probably be lumped into that most dreaded category - chick lit.
There are the usual hook-ups, spats and broken hearts, and for those who believe O'Brien is capable of writing about nothing else, one bloody Vietnam flashback.
The story was interesting for a while, but my attention easily drifted elsewhere. The characters all seemed to use the same voice, and none of their stories were very compelling.
Sad to say, but I feel almost certain that if this book had been written by a woman, it would probably be lumped into that most dreaded category - chick lit.
March 3, 2009
I absolutely love Tim O'Brien's writing. I have never been much of a fan of war movies or memoirs, but ever since my sophomore year English teacher taught a unit on war and we read "The Things They Carried" I have enjoyed his work, in spite of such an evident focus on Vietnam. Something about his language is so comfortable to read, and always has some sense of nostalgia, no matter how grand or minute. Additionally, he pays a great attention to character development and can juggle many plot lines and people throughout the course of a novel.
I struggled a bit with reading "In The Lake Of The Woods" and don't think I ever actually finished reading it. So I was excited to find out he had a new(er) book, and didn't even care what it was about. "July, July" was a bit of a departure from what I see as O'Brien's "conventional" writing style, but it still was unmistakably his. The thing I have noticed the most about him is he is definitely a short story writer. Even his books that are meant to be read as novels are written in such a way that it feels like a collection of short stories put together. The flow in this book was natural and seamless, but each chapter still read like its own separate complete thought - which I am beginning to think is my favourite trait of O'Brien's.
What I enjoyed the most in this read was how honest it read, but also how hopeless it was. All the characters were real and relatable, and there was a sense of disparity about the human condition communicated through each of them. But it felt OK, the hopelessness, because it's a part of life. Not the best work of his that I've read, but I definitely don't think there's such a thing as his worst.
Began: January 27, 2009
Ended: February 6, 2009
Page Count: 322
I struggled a bit with reading "In The Lake Of The Woods" and don't think I ever actually finished reading it. So I was excited to find out he had a new(er) book, and didn't even care what it was about. "July, July" was a bit of a departure from what I see as O'Brien's "conventional" writing style, but it still was unmistakably his. The thing I have noticed the most about him is he is definitely a short story writer. Even his books that are meant to be read as novels are written in such a way that it feels like a collection of short stories put together. The flow in this book was natural and seamless, but each chapter still read like its own separate complete thought - which I am beginning to think is my favourite trait of O'Brien's.
What I enjoyed the most in this read was how honest it read, but also how hopeless it was. All the characters were real and relatable, and there was a sense of disparity about the human condition communicated through each of them. But it felt OK, the hopelessness, because it's a part of life. Not the best work of his that I've read, but I definitely don't think there's such a thing as his worst.
Began: January 27, 2009
Ended: February 6, 2009
Page Count: 322
April 25, 2010
Tim O'Brien is a storyteller and this book showcases his ability in a different way than Going After Cacciato or The Things They Carried. He follows a cohort, the class of '69 from Darton Hall (clearly a remake of his Alma Mater, Macalester). We are granted the unique perspective of knowing their past, present and everything in between; we watch them play Monday Morning Quarterback, lamenting their lives and the choices they've made and what they've become. For some, the reunion is a chance to mend life just a little bit and for others, it solidifies that the path of least resistance is all they will ever follow despite how glorious grandiose dreams of change may appear.
And of course, being a native of the Twin Cities, I feel a stronger connection with the story and the places referenced. Although not necessary information, I always love feeling privy to this knowledge (of course that unhappy, mother of two going through the motions would live in xxxx suburb!)
I will say that although the story is rife with emotion and true characters (how is he is able to beautifully develop stories of so many characters in so few pages? Talent, I guess) I am left with an unsettling feeling after reading the book. Depressing I can handle, I like depressing, but his view of marriage is quite low and although I realize no marriage is perfect, I am always a bit bothered by books that don't showcase a single successful marriage. Sure, life is hard, marriage can be hard, but surely even in real life some of us are happy with our spouses.
And of course, being a native of the Twin Cities, I feel a stronger connection with the story and the places referenced. Although not necessary information, I always love feeling privy to this knowledge (of course that unhappy, mother of two going through the motions would live in xxxx suburb!)
I will say that although the story is rife with emotion and true characters (how is he is able to beautifully develop stories of so many characters in so few pages? Talent, I guess) I am left with an unsettling feeling after reading the book. Depressing I can handle, I like depressing, but his view of marriage is quite low and although I realize no marriage is perfect, I am always a bit bothered by books that don't showcase a single successful marriage. Sure, life is hard, marriage can be hard, but surely even in real life some of us are happy with our spouses.
August 23, 2019
da qualche anno i miei vecchi compagni di scuola ed io abbiamo ripreso a vederci abbastanza di frequente. Fra loro, alcuni non si erano mai persi di vista (due sono addirittura sposati), altri - come me - avevano tenuto blandi contatti, magari indotti da rapporti di lavoro. Ci vediamo, a cena o per un aperitivo, ogni due o tre mesi, non parliamo solo del passato, in generale ci divertiamo molto. C'è molta serenità, soprattutto per la consapevolezza condivisa che le nostre vite sono andate avanti rispetto ai remoti anni del liceo.
Con questa esperienza personale, ho fatto un po' fatica ad immedesimarmi nella vicenda dei reduci di Darton Hall, che si rivedono dopo un imprecisato numero di anni (è la riunione del trentennale dal diploma, ma - a parte il fatto che sono riusciti a sbagliarsi, facendola dopo trentuno anni - ce ne sono state di precedenti), avendo ancora aperte tutte le ferite che si erano reciprocamente inferti durante gli anni del college. Amori traditi, amori appassiti, amori che - secondo una vecchia bisbetica come me - dovrebbero essere morti e sepolti, e invece non aspettavano altro che un'occasione per rifarsi vivi, carichi di rancori o di insoddisfazioni o addirittura di ingenue aspettative.
Non è un brutto libro, ma ha troppo della sceneggiatura di un buon serial per essere preso del tutto sul serio.
Con questa esperienza personale, ho fatto un po' fatica ad immedesimarmi nella vicenda dei reduci di Darton Hall, che si rivedono dopo un imprecisato numero di anni (è la riunione del trentennale dal diploma, ma - a parte il fatto che sono riusciti a sbagliarsi, facendola dopo trentuno anni - ce ne sono state di precedenti), avendo ancora aperte tutte le ferite che si erano reciprocamente inferti durante gli anni del college. Amori traditi, amori appassiti, amori che - secondo una vecchia bisbetica come me - dovrebbero essere morti e sepolti, e invece non aspettavano altro che un'occasione per rifarsi vivi, carichi di rancori o di insoddisfazioni o addirittura di ingenue aspettative.
Non è un brutto libro, ma ha troppo della sceneggiatura di un buon serial per essere preso del tutto sul serio.
April 27, 2019
I had a hard time following this book. It felt like I was readling half finished thoughts and sentences. I did find the actual plot interesting and enjoyed reading all of the characters backstories.
Unfortunately I was left waiting for a climatic point that never came and an ending that made me wonder why I continued reading. I'm looking forward to checking out a different book by this author so that I can see if it was just the story I disliked or the actual style of writing!
Unfortunately I was left waiting for a climatic point that never came and an ending that made me wonder why I continued reading. I'm looking forward to checking out a different book by this author so that I can see if it was just the story I disliked or the actual style of writing!
January 31, 2020
One of the reviewers suggested that this wasn't as good as "The Things They Carried" and therefore they were disappointed. As a Vietnam vet, I'm not sure anything can measure up to the impact of TTTC in terms of how it affected all of us who were there.
Several of the reviewers didn't like the characters (I think one suggested it was like reading the 20 year later sequel to The Big Chill.) Nope, disagree.
The sixties, from the war to the culture, changed all of us. Set us off on different directions than our parents, offered alternatives not available before, deep divisions in political beliefs (I once dated a peacenik who couldn't believe she was having supper with a war monger), idealism, cults, sexual freedoms, etc. And very few of those 'roads' were very stable as folks tried to navigate them.
Only part of the book is directly about the war and the impact on one character, but the impact the war had on everything else permeates into these people in the 60's, and the directions they took and how they lived their lives up until this reunion.
These people were to me real people, struggling with what could have been and what was, to have dreamed and lost and to try to dream again.
Mr O'Brien is a terrific writer and one would hope folks other than Vietnam era 'kids' would get the human message of the folks in this book. They are all us - in one way or another.
Several of the reviewers didn't like the characters (I think one suggested it was like reading the 20 year later sequel to The Big Chill.) Nope, disagree.
The sixties, from the war to the culture, changed all of us. Set us off on different directions than our parents, offered alternatives not available before, deep divisions in political beliefs (I once dated a peacenik who couldn't believe she was having supper with a war monger), idealism, cults, sexual freedoms, etc. And very few of those 'roads' were very stable as folks tried to navigate them.
Only part of the book is directly about the war and the impact on one character, but the impact the war had on everything else permeates into these people in the 60's, and the directions they took and how they lived their lives up until this reunion.
These people were to me real people, struggling with what could have been and what was, to have dreamed and lost and to try to dream again.
Mr O'Brien is a terrific writer and one would hope folks other than Vietnam era 'kids' would get the human message of the folks in this book. They are all us - in one way or another.
October 20, 2011
There are bits and pieces of enjoyable writing interspersed in not very interesting scenes from a college reunion (30th?) of the class of 1969, who went to a small liberal arts college in Minnesota where they protested the war and had boyfriends and girlfriends. I found the reunions scenes not credible, as I have been to reunions and as far as I could tell, everybody wasn't scheming over large amounts of vodka to sleep with someone they had pined for all these years. But there are some credible and moving scenes from Vietnam, including one eerily remiscent of one from Dues, which I have just finished. But the section I enjoyed most takes place at an old folks home, with a hip young van driver who pulls the wool over a member of the class (she didn't make it to the reunion) who is utterly awkward and inexperienced, despite being in her 40s or 50s. I am pretty sure I had read this excerpted elsewhere, or else I read the whole book long ago and only remember that section. Although I happily read this book, my advice is just read the story of Karen at the old folks home in Arizona and figure you got the best of the book.
September 22, 2014
Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried" is one of the best books ever written in my opinion.. Here his writing is top notch and even though I am only about 4 years older than the gang of characters in the book, I didn't care for any of them. Their 50-something angst, the death of the 60's idealism, the effects of the trauma of a war in a foreign jungle, is all portrayed in his exceptionally powerful prose, but I couldn't get connected or feel anything for them. What a sad lot they were!
The best chapters were those about the Vietnam war vet- those stories, for good or ill, are Tim O'Brien's tour de force.
So a 4 for the writing here and a 2 for the characters and story- average is 3.
The best chapters were those about the Vietnam war vet- those stories, for good or ill, are Tim O'Brien's tour de force.
So a 4 for the writing here and a 2 for the characters and story- average is 3.
June 25, 2024
I love Tim O’Brien’s writing. So much. I just didn’t care so much about these characters as I did about him in The Things They Carried. But also, this was about a college class of 1969 reuniting in 2000. I just graduated college and it’s a bit depressing to think about what life goals I’ll have failed to achieve 30 years from now.
May 16, 2007
I don't paticular find narritives that are based on people living in or had lived in the sixties entertaining. I am of the generation that was raised by the Great Defiers and I must say, they have done a spectacular job of bettering the world as they matured out of being idealistic narcotic lovers and into hedonistic materialists!
The one exception, beyond nonfictional civil rights narritives, I will read with full vigour is novels by Tim O'Brien. This an author who understand how to evoke masculine emotion. With each novel, he pushes his reader into emotional battlefields and expects the reader to endure the journey.
July, July is the exploration of the 1969 graduating class of Darton Hall College thirtieth anniversay reunion. His charactures are the embodiment of the rise and fall of Beatlemania generation. It is such an arresting portrial of lifes that didn't quite blossom due to harsh weather that was never predicted. It has wonderfull humor and is a grand prose of faded dreams.
Honestly, this novel actually gave me wonderfull insight on the marred Baby Boomers. If all narritives based on the sixties were as well crafted as July, July, then maybe I could endure their audacity.
The one exception, beyond nonfictional civil rights narritives, I will read with full vigour is novels by Tim O'Brien. This an author who understand how to evoke masculine emotion. With each novel, he pushes his reader into emotional battlefields and expects the reader to endure the journey.
July, July is the exploration of the 1969 graduating class of Darton Hall College thirtieth anniversay reunion. His charactures are the embodiment of the rise and fall of Beatlemania generation. It is such an arresting portrial of lifes that didn't quite blossom due to harsh weather that was never predicted. It has wonderfull humor and is a grand prose of faded dreams.
Honestly, this novel actually gave me wonderfull insight on the marred Baby Boomers. If all narritives based on the sixties were as well crafted as July, July, then maybe I could endure their audacity.
March 29, 2022
tim. my man, you’ve done it again.
the setup of this entire narrative is pure genius!! alternating stories, constant changing between past & present, build up & intertwining of character lives; so good so good so good.
melancholic & lonely are the first two words i’d think of to describe it. strangely, hauntingly realistic. not sure i’ve ever read a book i’ve felt i’ve lived before in a past life.
this is the second work of tim o’brien’s that i’ve read & i’m absolutely floored by his prose. purely from his recurring themes & writing style, i can adequately say he is the ernest hemingway of our time.
the setup of this entire narrative is pure genius!! alternating stories, constant changing between past & present, build up & intertwining of character lives; so good so good so good.
melancholic & lonely are the first two words i’d think of to describe it. strangely, hauntingly realistic. not sure i’ve ever read a book i’ve felt i’ve lived before in a past life.
this is the second work of tim o’brien’s that i’ve read & i’m absolutely floored by his prose. purely from his recurring themes & writing style, i can adequately say he is the ernest hemingway of our time.
September 11, 2022
I love Tim O Briens writing and I am going back to read some of his older books. His writing is good as always. But I graduated from college in 1969 and my reunion was not full of angst or hooking up with old loves ( after 30 years the old loves were different people). The characters were just not relatable.
The best writing and character was about David Todd a Vietnam vet with a story to tell and demons to cast out. This book does not compare with O Briens others.
The best writing and character was about David Todd a Vietnam vet with a story to tell and demons to cast out. This book does not compare with O Briens others.
February 20, 2026
Had its moments but was mostly just boring to me. I can see how it would be moving for someone at a different stage in their life, but I’m not there yet. Maybe I’ll revisit it later (I probably won’t).
October 22, 2025
I mean Tim O’Brien is one of the best authors ever and in other reviews I complain about authors that add too many unnecessary characters and meaningless details but this book didn’t have much flow and throughout it I thought that I could just stop reading it and be fine. It is such a compelling story though that I still have to give it four stars.
July 25, 2023
Mini-goal of finishing this book this month.
The Things They Carried showed that Tim O'Brien is a master at bringing scenes of war to life. This book shows that he can do other things too (albeit a little less deftly). His characters here are mostly larger than life, they fall and flop and die in unbelievable ways. But a select few, like Marla and Ellie and David, are conceptualized amazingly well. And as always, O'Brien can deliver a gut punch of a final chapter.
The Things They Carried showed that Tim O'Brien is a master at bringing scenes of war to life. This book shows that he can do other things too (albeit a little less deftly). His characters here are mostly larger than life, they fall and flop and die in unbelievable ways. But a select few, like Marla and Ellie and David, are conceptualized amazingly well. And as always, O'Brien can deliver a gut punch of a final chapter.
March 27, 2024
Sometimes the feeling you get when you close a book carries the day. So it is with July, July, whose small-scale looks at members of a 1969 Minnesota college graduating class add up satisfyingly in the final tally.
Tim O’Brien made his name by writing about the war in Vietnam, and while this isn’t a “Vietnam book,” the characters who populate July, July are obviously children of that era, and the war’s legacy is felt, as is typical in O’Brien's novels.
In this quietly sharp book, the Darton Hall college Class of 1969 gathers for a 30th reunion in July 2000 (no, the math intentionally doesn’t add up). O’Brien’s general approach is to alternate the now of the reunion and how these 10 or so main characters reminisce and form new relationships, with revealing or transformative chronicling (sometimes very short in time span, sometimes showing us many years) of their lives between the then of 1969 and the now of 2000.
At 306 pages, and with 10 of these backward-looking chapters wrapped around the generally shorter reunion chapters, the math, again, doesn’t quite add up to truly deep character studies. Clearly, that’s not the point. If O’Brien wanted that sort of truly-get-inside-everyone sprawl, this baby would be 600 pages. So his approach is tight and fairly quick, more snapshot than scrapbook. This has the drawback of making it a little tougher to keep the characters straight. I saw this coming early on and put together a cheat sheet in about five minutes that helped; some readers might want to do this, though truly it's not that confusing. On the plus side, the vignettes from the past are always interesting, have sharp dialogue and don’t stretch credulity too much. Interesting lives, then, with good “hooks” that usually don’t feel artificially trumped up by the author.
And while only a couple of these characters felt direct repercussions from Vietnam, it’s worth noting the most interesting character and who inspires the best writing from O'Brien is one who fought there and lost a leg, David Todd. Todd is haunted by the voice on a radio he heard while crawling around and (he thought) waiting to die alone near a river. This is searing stuff, both the then and now.
Elsewhere, there’s a draft dodger and the woman who decided not to come with him to Winnipeg; a disgraced female minister; a woman who pulled out of a new marriage after a casino winning streak; a woman who saw the man she was having an affair with drown.
During the several days of reunion festivities, characters reconnect, hook up, reminisce, lay themselves bare. Good, solid stuff that doesn’t feel forced; it feels real.
Twitchy readers might be put off keeping track of the characters; some will feel July, July isn’t “big” enough. Love, tragedy and pain may build us up or knock us down, but inevitably make us who we are. By the end of this good-but-not-great novel, O'Brien and the Class of ’69 had me, flaws and all.
Tim O’Brien made his name by writing about the war in Vietnam, and while this isn’t a “Vietnam book,” the characters who populate July, July are obviously children of that era, and the war’s legacy is felt, as is typical in O’Brien's novels.
In this quietly sharp book, the Darton Hall college Class of 1969 gathers for a 30th reunion in July 2000 (no, the math intentionally doesn’t add up). O’Brien’s general approach is to alternate the now of the reunion and how these 10 or so main characters reminisce and form new relationships, with revealing or transformative chronicling (sometimes very short in time span, sometimes showing us many years) of their lives between the then of 1969 and the now of 2000.
At 306 pages, and with 10 of these backward-looking chapters wrapped around the generally shorter reunion chapters, the math, again, doesn’t quite add up to truly deep character studies. Clearly, that’s not the point. If O’Brien wanted that sort of truly-get-inside-everyone sprawl, this baby would be 600 pages. So his approach is tight and fairly quick, more snapshot than scrapbook. This has the drawback of making it a little tougher to keep the characters straight. I saw this coming early on and put together a cheat sheet in about five minutes that helped; some readers might want to do this, though truly it's not that confusing. On the plus side, the vignettes from the past are always interesting, have sharp dialogue and don’t stretch credulity too much. Interesting lives, then, with good “hooks” that usually don’t feel artificially trumped up by the author.
And while only a couple of these characters felt direct repercussions from Vietnam, it’s worth noting the most interesting character and who inspires the best writing from O'Brien is one who fought there and lost a leg, David Todd. Todd is haunted by the voice on a radio he heard while crawling around and (he thought) waiting to die alone near a river. This is searing stuff, both the then and now.
Elsewhere, there’s a draft dodger and the woman who decided not to come with him to Winnipeg; a disgraced female minister; a woman who pulled out of a new marriage after a casino winning streak; a woman who saw the man she was having an affair with drown.
During the several days of reunion festivities, characters reconnect, hook up, reminisce, lay themselves bare. Good, solid stuff that doesn’t feel forced; it feels real.
Twitchy readers might be put off keeping track of the characters; some will feel July, July isn’t “big” enough. Love, tragedy and pain may build us up or knock us down, but inevitably make us who we are. By the end of this good-but-not-great novel, O'Brien and the Class of ’69 had me, flaws and all.
February 9, 2015
This book felt like a sequel to the film "The Big Chill" with the characters having aged another twenty years. I often had the sensation that I was reading a screenplay instead of a novel. O'Brien uses a thirty year college reunion for the class of 1969 as a jumping off point to tell a series of vignettes about moments in the attendees' lives. O'Brien jumps back and forth from the reunion to the personal story of each character and there a number of them. He tells the story of at least ten individuals. Some of the vignettes are better than others, particularly the one set in Vietnam, which had the quality of those from "The Things They Carried," a book superior to this one.
The basic underlying message I got from the book is "getting older sucks and there's no better time than your college years." The tale is a somewhat typical one - wide-eyed, idealistic college kids' hopes and dreams are gradually beaten down and out of them by the realities of life. Thirty years later everyone is miserable, isolated, lonely, and doing a pretty terrible job coping with aging. Most of the characters are unlikable while others don't feel fully formed, so it was difficult to get attached to any of them. The dialogue was also clunky and had an artificial quality. It felt too snappy and empty.
I read the book quickly as the prose kept me going and I was intrigued to see what sordid and unsavory affairs these people would get into next, but overall I would recommend watching "The Big Chill" to get a quicker rendition of this story.
The basic underlying message I got from the book is "getting older sucks and there's no better time than your college years." The tale is a somewhat typical one - wide-eyed, idealistic college kids' hopes and dreams are gradually beaten down and out of them by the realities of life. Thirty years later everyone is miserable, isolated, lonely, and doing a pretty terrible job coping with aging. Most of the characters are unlikable while others don't feel fully formed, so it was difficult to get attached to any of them. The dialogue was also clunky and had an artificial quality. It felt too snappy and empty.
I read the book quickly as the prose kept me going and I was intrigued to see what sordid and unsavory affairs these people would get into next, but overall I would recommend watching "The Big Chill" to get a quicker rendition of this story.
July 14, 2021
“We had fed the heart on fantasies,
The heart’s grown brutal from the fare.”
-William Butler Yeats
This quote, used as an epitaph at the beginning of this short novel, is a perfect description of what is about to be read. I find Yeats to be disillusioned and often hopeless and in many ways, Tim O’Brien is too.
They say you write what you know. Yeats wrote in the years between two World Wars. O’Brien is a product of the 60s and Vietnam. No wonder their writing is what it is.
That said, Tim O’Brien is a fantastic writer and an incredible storyteller. I am of the group that came right after his, age-wise, enough younger that the war ended early in my high school years. But I saw and heard enough to understand some of what was going on. I had a student teacher who was heading to the army straight after his college graduation. A friend of my husband’s was a vet who often talked about his time there. These men were forever changed. The characters in the book, an ensemble cast, seem very real. And very sad.
This is not an easy book to read. None of his books are. They are unsettling to say the least. But they are also human, and for that reason, important glimpses into the experiences of a generation.
The heart’s grown brutal from the fare.”
-William Butler Yeats
This quote, used as an epitaph at the beginning of this short novel, is a perfect description of what is about to be read. I find Yeats to be disillusioned and often hopeless and in many ways, Tim O’Brien is too.
They say you write what you know. Yeats wrote in the years between two World Wars. O’Brien is a product of the 60s and Vietnam. No wonder their writing is what it is.
That said, Tim O’Brien is a fantastic writer and an incredible storyteller. I am of the group that came right after his, age-wise, enough younger that the war ended early in my high school years. But I saw and heard enough to understand some of what was going on. I had a student teacher who was heading to the army straight after his college graduation. A friend of my husband’s was a vet who often talked about his time there. These men were forever changed. The characters in the book, an ensemble cast, seem very real. And very sad.
This is not an easy book to read. None of his books are. They are unsettling to say the least. But they are also human, and for that reason, important glimpses into the experiences of a generation.
December 8, 2020
Tim O’Brien has written a slew of great books, including two (maybe three) that could be reasonably be called masterpieces. I might not rate this one as a masterpiece, but it was a great read, and it held me to the end. The book uses the device of a reunion to tell the stories of multiple characters whose lives intersect, veer off and intersect again. While each character is individually plausible, to the point of being occasionally annoying, I thought they seemed an unlikely group, but that didn’t stop me from charging through the book. O’Brien’s skill is moving the narrative along and creating characters who can and will transform before it’s all over, even if you’re left to guess the fates of a few of them. I’m sure the book’s ending will long be a subject for spirited analysis and debate, but that’s something I love about it. It felt like a fitting end for a 1969 class reunion taking place in the year 2000.
July 28, 2022
July, July by Tim O'Brien is a novel that tells the stories of ten classmates who reunite thirty years after their 1969 graduation from Darton Hall College. The chapters bounce back and forth between their present-day reunion weekend and their 1969 stories of how their lives changed after college: love, marriage, divorce, children, betrayal, affairs, new jobs, sickness, and death. Above all, they all feel… old.
I was surprised by how much I liked this novel. It was dreary and devastating at times but also comical and scandalous. The characters were very funny, and I admire O'Brien's way of writing this book. All of their stories tangled so nicely together. Their plights were often outrageous. I loved the ending. I think my favorite characters were David, Dorothy, Jan, Amy, and Spinelli.
This is my second O'Brien book, after The Things They Carried, and I'm looking forward to reading more.
I was surprised by how much I liked this novel. It was dreary and devastating at times but also comical and scandalous. The characters were very funny, and I admire O'Brien's way of writing this book. All of their stories tangled so nicely together. Their plights were often outrageous. I loved the ending. I think my favorite characters were David, Dorothy, Jan, Amy, and Spinelli.
This is my second O'Brien book, after The Things They Carried, and I'm looking forward to reading more.
March 1, 2012
It has been quite a stretch since I've read anything by Tim O'Brien (The Things They Carried). I found July, July a great read and liked how he interwove the characters and handled the time-lines of each story. The book takes place in Minnesota on a July weekend in 2000 at the 30th college reunion for the class of 1969 (the faulty math is explained) and looks back on the lives disappointments, desperation, and continuing connections of a small circle of friends. It reminded me of why I don't go to reunions.
O'Brien grew up in Minnesota, went to Macallister College, was drafted, and served in Viet Nam. The novel captures much of the angst of the times. I loved his use of language - both imagery and dialogue. "That girl of mine," my mother used to brag, "Ugly as North Dakota, but I swear she could squeeze a laugh out of a Baptist."
O'Brien grew up in Minnesota, went to Macallister College, was drafted, and served in Viet Nam. The novel captures much of the angst of the times. I loved his use of language - both imagery and dialogue. "That girl of mine," my mother used to brag, "Ugly as North Dakota, but I swear she could squeeze a laugh out of a Baptist."
February 1, 2012
This book is a big departure, in my view, from Tim O'Brien's other works. In July, July, the Vietnam war takes a supporting role, not a starring one, as O'Brien paints a picture of a dissatisfied and disaffected generation - the young men and women who came of age in 1969.
The narrative follows the 30th reunion of a fictional college outside of the Twin Cities. The main characters all stew in the imperfection of their own lives, and reminisce about the "better days" of their youth.
Tim O'Brien's writing style alone makes it worth the read, but the story is compelling too. It's nice to see something out of his usual genre, and between him and Jonathan Franzen, it makes me wonder what Minnesota water has in it that churns out some brilliant writers?
The narrative follows the 30th reunion of a fictional college outside of the Twin Cities. The main characters all stew in the imperfection of their own lives, and reminisce about the "better days" of their youth.
Tim O'Brien's writing style alone makes it worth the read, but the story is compelling too. It's nice to see something out of his usual genre, and between him and Jonathan Franzen, it makes me wonder what Minnesota water has in it that churns out some brilliant writers?
September 9, 2017
O'Brien is a literary genius.
March 1, 2021
The test of a good writer is to take something as absolutely dreadful as ten middle-aged Boomers at their 30th (31 years later, actually--bad planning) college class reunion (really? didn't know they existed past high school's which was bad enough--gluttons for punishment) and turn it into a story fraught with all its old romances, multiple divorces and curiously-absent spouses which leads to more cheating and promiscuity (heh, heh, heh--he said "prom"), and drama, and secrets, and flashbacks. On that last item, it's only natural to embellish some of Vietnam-vet O'Brien's signature-halucinogenic, morphine-enhanced, lifetime-induced PTSD, nightmarish Nam-throwback experience in "the sh*t" to when one of the story's protagonists, David Todd, is the sole survivor of an ambush that wipes out his platoon. July 1969. The reunion is July 1999. Hence the title: "July, July." As it turns out, my favorite character is Master Sergeant Johnny Ever, David's alter-ego who is a psychotic entity of a sort (like hearing voices in your head--remember Son of Sam?) but he's this crazed, demonic DJ, and maybe even a guardian angel. Hard not to flash back to the terminally hip DJ Dr. Johnny Fever (WKRP Cincinnati) crossed with Robin Williams ("Good Morning Vietnam!"). O'Brien's thematic narrative is about the Samsonite Syndrome; the baggage that each of us--one and all--acquires in the course of our lifetimes. Remember the gorilla banging a hardshell suitcase around in his barred cage? But I digress...It's not original if you've read as many reunion stories as I have. Russo, Updike, yada, yada, yada. The field has been plowed so many times, I doubted whether there would be any more arrowheads to be found. But give O'Brien credit. He pulls it off. The closing chapter of the story with the night flight to Denver from Minneapolis is one of those fill-in-the-blank endings that leaves you hanging. I like that. And I don't. But won't offer up any spoilers. Ultimately, however, there are lessons to be learned. Not the least of which being, if somebody from those most-awkward unforgettable (try as you might) years in your life invites you to a reunion, do what that voice in your head from Monty Python tells you: "Run away! Run away!"
Displaying 1 - 30 of 372 reviews