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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
Some
Brief violent incident; references to Vietnam-era violence in backstories
Language
Barely any
Mild profanity
Sexual Content
Some
Adult relationships and brief sexual content; not explicit
Substance Use
Some
Social drinking at the reunion; references to past drug use
Emotional Intensity
A lot
Regret, unlived lives, and the long shadow of 1960s choices; cancer and mortality appear in several characters' stories
What this book is about
The class of 1969 from Darton Hall College gathers for its 30th reunion. Each story follows a different alumnus: the couple who met at an anti-war protest, the man who went to Canada to avoid the draft, the woman who survived cancer. O'Brien weaves between reunion weekend and the backstories of these ordinary lives marked by the choices of that era. Less formally innovative than his earlier work, it's a warm, melancholy look at how history shapes lives.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Terminal illness
Vietnam draft avoidance and its costs
Themes of regret and unlived lives
Reader Verification
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