August and Then Some

by David Prete

New York City. By day, JT Savage is a labourer on the Upper East Side, by night an insomniac in an East Village tenement. His childhood in Yonkers had been superficially normal - then one night, everything changed. 'August and Then Some' is a gripping family drama, in which horrifying family secrets explode during one tragic night.

Genres: Fiction

259 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Rhuddem Gwelin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very sad book but it's also funny and the author so clearly loves his flawed characters. This is what I demand of an author. Too many seem contemptuous of their characters and people in general. Happily, Prete gives here a deep and sympathetic portrayal of Jake, Stephanie, Dani and he also presents the villains as the complex people they are. Recommended.

[Lauren M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I thought this was a good book. The writing was great and poignant, Prete does a good job of capturing the tones of the disenfranchised and an uneducated but extremely likeable pregnant teenager. This is a dark book, and you won't feel happy when you finish it, but almost at peace. I was able to connect with the characters- Stephanie was great and one of the best characters I have read in a while.

*SPOILER*
My problem with this book was the fact that nothing was done about a father molesting his daughter. In what world would a judge/therapist not say...oh hey, this guy is a molester lets do something about it? At first I thought it was going to come out that JT made the whole thing up when the mom was saying that he always exaggerates things. I get that was why JT wanted to steal the car...but I still cannot believe his therapist wouldn't have done anything about it. I also could not understand why Nokey's father was so hell-bent on getting JT to talk to his father and why it seemed like JT almost forgave him. How in the world could you ever forgive a father that did those awful things?

[Samantha Hoffman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written debut novel. Tough subject but told with heart.

[Maranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up because the theme of my wedding was “August and everything after.” I had no idea what to expect. It contains tough subject matter and I considered not finishing it; however I’m glad I did. I wasn’t expecting the ending. Prete does a good job of foreshadowing but keeping you unaware of what is next. You know something is off but you can’t quite put your finger on it until it hits you in the face.

[Sharon Falduto]

The kind of thing I usually avoid--very well written, really heartfelt characters, but there's abuse and molestation and domestic violence and all that stuff. Seems like the kind of book that the characters will hang around in my mind for a while. The story isn't really finished; we just saw a bit of it--the part in August (and then some).

[Jayne Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

This got off to a great start with the narrator, Jake, a labourer on a New York building site, describing his surroundings as he wheels a big lump of rock home to use as a table. One blast of the colloquial prose and I was propelled into Jake's world. It was gratifyingly coarse: "Understand - we didn't swim in the Bronx River. The geese didn't even go for a dip. They only came to shit. Sometimes you couldn't tell if it was a big piece of water with a little shit in it or a big piece of shit with a little water in it". So that's another place I won't need to visit - I can picture it already.

I wasn't overly bothered whether there was a plot - I was enjoying the writing enough on its own. But things do happen, and the writing has a way of coming at your sideways, springing surprises and challenging your assumptions. Enough clues are dropped for the ending to be guessable, but you need to get there to complete the journey. Revelations about Jake's past, and the problems within his family, are interspersed with his present day relationship with Stephanie, a girl who lives near his digs. The bits with her in were my least favourite - I found her confusing and unappealing, and she seemed only to get in the way of the telling of the back-story. But all in all this is a highly engaging and intelligent read.

[Raven · Rating 5 out of 5]

A contemporary and dark novel punctuated at times by moments of joy in the resilience of the human spirit, I found this to be one of the most absorbing stories I have read for some time. Revolving around the events of a fateful summer, Prete introduces us to JT, a wounded young man forging a new life for himself in rundown New York but finding difficulty in establishing relationships with others due to these events, the nature of which unfold gradually throughout the course of the book. Prete's writing is spare yet lyrical and his depiction of JT's emotional life is extremely well-observed along with the drawing of his fledgling relationship with his neighbour Stephanie. Contemporary American writing at its best...

[Helen Hanschell Pollock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poignant and interesting, would like to read more by David Prete. I have trouble with thinking how I would cope with a relationship with my child if he or she was a murderer or paedophile and after reading Keri Hulme's novel 'The Bone People' in which she is sympathetic to the father who assaulted both his woman and his child in New Zealand I can understand the necessity for some kind of discussion with the abusive father in this story. Something like Nelson Mandela's solution to the evils of apartheid through reconciliation using public acts of confession, in this case personal ones.

[Marcia Leonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent, dismaying, hard-boiled novel about an inner-city life-style. I would never have chosen this book to read if I had realized ahead of time the culture depicted--but I'm very glad I read it. It's not enjoyable; it's tough, realistic, and magnificently written.
The Pulitzer prize committee couldn't make up their minds this year. It's too bad that "August and Then Some" wasn't one of the nominatees.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful writing, but I didn't get the plot structure until I was about three quarters of the way through the book. That was okay, though. The writing was strong enough to make me not care, and I eventually "got it". It was pragmatic and lacked a resolute, just ending, like much of life itself.

[Zuzu Burford · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could not put this book down.

[Alisonismail · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a brilliant read, very atmospheric, some characters so likeable that you manage to overlook (to some degree) how sad it is. Bits of Philip Roth and some Catcher in the Rye themes too.

[Erin Hankins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Depressing, slow and the type where you can skip entire paragraphs but not mies a beat. I would not recommend unless you ate in to depressing books.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harsh and sad, but a compelling read

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of those books that you have to say Wow when you finish it. Very powerful.

[Wellington City Libraries]

Thought provoking, sad.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sensational and so well written. Modern masterpiece with real, well defined characters. A hint of catcher in the rye. Please read it.

[Randy Briggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very painful to read, but absolutely stellar.