JULY, JULY

Jay O. Sanders does not attempt different voices for different characters, yet he modulates his tones so skillfully that you always know who is speaking and why. Known for his books on the Vietnam War, Tim O'Brien is a master of language, but he's decided to spend this novel at a sadly dispiriting event, the 30th college reunion of the class of 1969. The survivors are back at Darnton Hall. Somebody's put up cardboard stars. Also on display: failed marriages, cancer, obesity, and dismemberment. Everybody gets drunk. Everybody gets maudlin. "People get what they imagine," says one character. "To hell with Weight Watchers," thinks another. "We were happy once," they tell each other. They don't believe it. Neither will you. B.H.C. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/MAR 03]