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July, July

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July, July
First edition
AuthorTim O'Brien
LanguageEnglish
GenreFiction
PublisherHoughton Mifflin (US)
Publication date
2002
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)
ISBN9780618039692
OCLC50417083
Preceded byTomcat in Love (1998) 
Followed byDad’d Maybe Book (2019) 

July, July (2002) is a novel by Tim O'Brien.

Plot summary

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July, July is set in 2000, and members of the Darton Hall College class of 1969 are gathered, one year behind schedule, for their 30th reunion. Focusing on a dozen characters and life's pivotal moments rather than on a 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 moments when each character experienced something that changed him or her forever. Jumping 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.[1]

References

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  1. ^ Young, John K. (2017-01-15). How to Revise a True War Story. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press. ISBN 1-60938-467-9.