Synopses & Reviews
“Insidiously, compulsively readable.” — MSNBC
At the thirtieth reunion of the Darton Hall College class of 1969, ten old friends join their classmates for a summer weekend of dancing, drinking, flirting, reminiscing, and regret. The three decades since graduation have brought marriage and divorce, children and careers, hopes deferred and replaced. July, July tells the heart-rending and often hilarious story of men and women who came into adulthood at a moment when American ideals and innocence began to fade. These lives will ring familiar to anyone who has dreamed, worked, and struggled to keep course toward a happy ending.
With humor and a sense of wistful hope, July, July speaks directly to the American character and its resilience, striking deep at the emotional center of our lives.
"A symphony of American life.” — All Things Considered, NPR
“A small-scale tour de force by an American original . . . OBrien is one of the most accomplished members of a generation of writers that includes Don DeLillo and Thomas Pynchon.” — Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"Astonishing for [its] clarity of character, for [its] narrative thrills and surprises, for [its] humor and hard-won wisdom . . . July, July gives readers plenty of reasons to celebrate." — Chicago Sun-Times
"Perceptive, affectionate and often very funny." — Boston Herald
"A deeply satisfying story . . . OBrien is intelligent and daring, but he is also eminently accessible.” — O, the Oprah Magazine
"Taut and compelling." — Los Angeles Times Book Review
"Beautifully realized, heartbreakingly honest." — Providence Journal-Bulletin
“Almost impossible to put down.” — Austin American-Statesman
Review
"Crackles with energy, wit and laughter . . . Schine is a great speculator in the commodities of life, a life-scientist hypothesizing madly. She's written a novel that makes feeling good feel like a good thing." Boston Globe
"Schine renders her story with such deftness and humor that the reader can't help but be enchanted . . . A delightful exercise in literary wit, a perfect summer screwball comedy." The New York Times
"A sensual treat . . . Light as a souffle, rich as a sundae, and as satisfying as love." The San Diego Union-Tribune
"Letter perfect . . . An affair to remember, a book you won't forget.
Synopsis
In four previous novels, Cathleen Schine has enchanted readers with her special brand of brainy wit and wry affection for her endearingly flawed characters. Now the best-selling author of The Love Letter takes a hilarious trip to the Galapagos Islands with a comedy of natural selection. Jane Barlow Schwartz is obsessed with one question: why did her best friend Martha stop being her best friend? The two girls, distant cousins, had shared idyllic childhood summers in the New England seaside town of Barlow, named for their family's founding fathers. Martha was not just Jane's friend but her idol, her soul mate, her confidante. Then, somewhere along the line, the friendship ended. What went wrong? Was it the family feud, which their parents spoke of only in hushed tones? What did Jane's dotty great-aunt reveal to Martha on her deathbed? Did Jane do something unforgivable? When the cousins are reunited unexpectedly on a tour of the Galapagos, they meet Darwin head on. In the pristine Pacific waters, amid blue-footed boobies and red-lipped batfish, Jane traces back through her Yankee-Cuban-Jewish ancestry to try to pinpoint the "splitting event," the moment when Martha was no longer the Martha she knew. In the process, she ponders the origin of species and the origin of friendship, the instincts of exotic wildlife and of her eccentric shipmates, the evolution of nature and of her life. The result is an antic mating of family saga and natural history. Bearing Schine's "astute ability to sum up modern relationships" (People), as well as her "wonderfully inventive comic voice" (New York Times Book Review), The Evolution of Jane sparkles with keen observations on the species known as humans. Above all, it is a warm-hearted tribute to that unique adaptation of girlhood, the selection of a very best friend.
Synopsis
In this "witty novel about family, friendship, and survival of the fittest,"* Cathleen Schine, one of our most astute social observers, examines the origin of species alongside the origins of who we come to be. In some mysterious family feud or unintended slight, Jane Barlow Schwartz lost a friend, her cousin and soul mate Martha. But years later, surrounded by the exotic wildlife of the Galápagos, Jane and Martha meet again. There, amid the antics of blue-footed boobies and red-lipped batfish, Jane sets off on a quest through her family history to pinpoint the moment when Martha was no longer the Martha she knew. In the process, she ponders instinct, natural selection, and the oddities of evolution that transform us. As Barbara Kingsolver proclaimed in the
New York Times Book Review, "We should rejoice in a rare novel like
The Evolution of Jane . . . a rollicking family saga tinged with hints of sexual intrigue . . . Three cheers."
*Elle
Synopsis
"We should rejoice in a rare book like
The Evolution of Jane . . . A beautifully descriptive travelogue of the Galapagos . . . wrapped around a rollicking family saga tinged with hints of sexual intrigue."—Barbara Kingsolver,
New York Times Book Review"Wonderfully ingenious . . . Very funny, very smart."—Los Angeles Times Book Review
"Classy, intelligent fun."—People
In some mysterious family feud or unintended slight, Jane Barlow Schwartz lost a friend, her cousin and soul mate Martha. Years later, surrounded by the exotic wildlife of the Galápagos, Jane and Martha meet again. Amid the antics of blue-footed boobies and red-lipped batfish, Jane sets off on a quest through her family history to pinpoint the moment when Martha was no longer the Martha she knew, when the happiest part of her life lapsed into extinction. In the process, she ponders instinct, natural selection, and the oddities of evolution that transform us, examining the origin of species alongside the origins of who we come to be.
"Hilarious."—Harpers Bazaar "Clever . . . Equal parts fascinating science lesson and love story."—Mademoiselle
"Crackles with energy, wit and laughter . . . Schine is a great speculator in the commodities of life."—Boston Globe
CATHLEEN SCHINE is the author of many novels, most recently The Three Weissmanns of Westport, as well as the international bestseller The Love Letter and Alice in Bed, To the Bird House, She Is Me, and The New Yorkers.
Synopsis
Tim O'Brien's ambitious, compassionate, and terrifically compelling seventh novel, called his "masterwork" by Texas Monthly, sees one of our greatest writers return to his signature themes—passion, memory, and yearning in American twentieth-century life
About the Author
Tim OBrien received the 1979 National Book Award for Going After Cacciato. Among his other books are The Things They Carried, Pulitzer Finalist and a New York Times Book of the Century, and In the Lake of the Woods, winner of the James Fenimore Cooper Prize. He was awarded the Pritzker Literature Award for lifetime achievement in military writing in 2013.