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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
After a comedic hiatus with 1998's Tomcat in Love, O'Brien expands on themes he explored in some of his best-known earlier novels: memory, hope, love, war. It's July 2000 and members of the Darton Hall College class of 1969 are gathered, one year behind schedule, for their 30th reunion. Focusing on sharply drawn characters and life's pivotal moments rather than on a strong linear plot, O'Brien follows the ensemble cast (which includes a Vietnam vet, a draft dodger, a minister, a bigamous housewife and a manufacturer of mops) for whom "the world had whittled itself down to now or never," as they drink, flirt and reminisce. Interspersed are tales of other Julys, when each character experienced something that changed him or her forever. Jump-cutting across decades, O'Brien reveals past loves and old betrayals that still haunt: Dorothy failed to follow Billy to Canada; Spook hammered out a "double marriage"; Ellie saw her lover drown; Paulette, in a moment of desperation, disgraced herself and ruined her career. Comedy and pathos define the reunion days, while the histories often devastate. Because they are such dramatic moments-a tryst that ends tragically, a near-death experience on the bank of a foreign river, the aftermath of a radical mastectomy-some of them feel contrived, almost hyperbolic. Still, this is a poignant and powerful page-turner, and a testament to a generation.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Library Journal
The 30th reunion of Darton Hall College gives O'Brien the chance to play with a host of troubled characters. If you think you've seen this before, you're right: it was excerpted in The New Yorker and Esquire.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
See all Editorial Reviews
After a comedic hiatus with 1998's Tomcat in Love, O'Brien expands on themes he explored in some of his best-known earlier novels: memory, hope, love, war. It's July 2000 and members of the Darton Hall College class of 1969 are gathered, one year behind schedule, for their 30th reunion. Focusing on sharply drawn characters and life's pivotal moments rather than on a strong linear plot, O'Brien follows the ensemble cast (which includes a Vietnam vet, a draft dodger, a minister, a bigamous housewife and a manufacturer of mops) for whom "the world had whittled itself down to now or never," as they drink, flirt and reminisce. Interspersed are tales of other Julys, when each character experienced something that changed him or her forever. Jump-cutting across decades, O'Brien reveals past loves and old betrayals that still haunt: Dorothy failed to follow Billy to Canada; Spook hammered out a "double marriage"; Ellie saw her lover drown; Paulette, in a moment of desperation, disgraced herself and ruined her career. Comedy and pathos define the reunion days, while the histories often devastate. Because they are such dramatic moments-a tryst that ends tragically, a near-death experience on the bank of a foreign river, the aftermath of a radical mastectomy-some of them feel contrived, almost hyperbolic. Still, this is a poignant and powerful page-turner, and a testament to a generation.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Library Journal
The 30th reunion of Darton Hall College gives O'Brien the chance to play with a host of troubled characters. If you think you've seen this before, you're right: it was excerpted in The New Yorker and Esquire.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
See all Editorial Reviews
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First Sentence:
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. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
eight nodes Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Jan Huebner, Amy Robinson, David Todd, Darton Hall, Paulette Haslo, Spook Spinelli, Dorothy Stier, Ellie Abbott, Marv Bertel, Marla Dempsey, Johnny Ever, Harmon Osterberg, Karen Burns, Baldy Devlin, Twin Cities, Thomas Pierce, Loon Point, Doc Paladino, Fred Engelmann, Snow White, Darrell Jettie, Elaine Wirtz, Jesus Christ, Snelling Avenue, Flarety Hall New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
eight nodes Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Jan Huebner, Amy Robinson, David Todd, Darton Hall, Paulette Haslo, Spook Spinelli, Dorothy Stier, Ellie Abbott, Marv Bertel, Marla Dempsey, Johnny Ever, Harmon Osterberg, Karen Burns, Baldy Devlin, Twin Cities, Thomas Pierce, Loon Point, Doc Paladino, Fred Engelmann, Snow White, Darrell Jettie, Elaine Wirtz, Jesus Christ, Snelling Avenue, Flarety Hall New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 3
books:
- Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell on page 71
- Martin Luther by J. M. Todd on page 16
- Forget It by Bill James on page 97
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