August and Then Some: A Novel - Hardcover

Prete, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393057992 ISBN 13: 9780393057997

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012

Synopsis

Twisted bonds between a father and his children lead to revenge and a desperate hope for redemption and forgiveness.

In the heat of August, Jake Terri Savage (“JT”), his little sister Danielle, and his bone-headed best friend, Nokey (nicknamed after “gnocchi”), try to steal JT’s father’s beloved 1965 Shelby Cobra. Their reasons are noble; the consequences,devastating.

JT’s abusive dad’s idea of a twelfth birthday gift is getting his son involved in a barroom brawl. Nokey’s dad thinks he has potatoes for brains. Both sons live out their fathers’ stunted visions in a way that brings down a terrible judgment on them all―leaving JT hauling rocks for punishment while he staves off panic attacks and nightmares about his sister and her terrible half-known secret.

A Dominican teenage girl with little hope for her own future gives JT a second chance to save someone, including himself. Throughout, David Prete’s vivid sense of atmosphere, tight plotting, and crackling dialogue give the dysfunctional family story a new lease on life.

About this title

About the Author:

David Prete is the author of Say That to My Face. He lives in Chicago, Illinois.

Review:

“...Prete writes electrifying dialogue, and his galvanizing descriptions are poetic and mettlesome. Subtly mythic, grimly funny, and profoundly dramatic, Prete’s tale of young survivors blazes.”
- Donna Seaman, Booklist

“An intense, tragic story about a young man’s struggle to take control of his life... As JT might put it if he were prone to self-pity, he has a big f*ing challenge ahead.... But the dialogue crackles like a plastic bottle underfoot while the pace never slows. A disturbing novel offering a mixture of hope and despair, vileness and nobility.”
- Kirkus Reviews

“It's no accident that when a novelist comes out with a good book, people talk about it as a performance. David Prete is a richly talented actor and in this novel he shows himself to be every bit as talented as a novelist. This is a brilliant performance, that feels like it ought to be said aloud. It has the music of something one hears in the best plays ― its damaged young narrator is gritty and brave and carries a terrible burden of knowledge that leaks to us through scenes we experience in our nerves, like the stone and clamor of the city itself where he lives, palpable as a touch on the skin. August is the sad month, and this is August and then some.”
- Richard Bausch

“Prete’s portrayal of an adolescent inexorably scarred by secrets and lies, revenge and its consequences is beautifully done.”
- Harper Collins, Independent Thinking

“...Prete weaves a raw and tantalizing tale of revenge and repentance, played out when a Pandora’s box of family secrets implodes.”
- Susan Swarbick, The Herald Scotland

“...impeccably crafted...wit, insight and some truly lovely writing that along with a heartbreaking final act, will prick your eyes with tears.”
- Paul Connolly, Edinburgh Metro

“In Prete's writing dialogue and metaphor are energetically engaged, mixing sparring wit, sombre sorrow and recollection so ephemeral it has "the life expectancy of a flame in a bottle."”
- Catherine Taylor, The Guardian (UK)

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0393057992
• ISBN 13: 9780393057997
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272