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An Unfinished Season: A Novel Audiobook
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(3.04) - 394 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
An Unfinished Season captures the postwar moment of the 1950s, a time of rabid anti-communism, worker unrest, and government corruption, when the modern world lay just over the horizon.
On the margins of Chicago's North Shore, nineteen-year-old Wilson Ravan watches as his father's life unravels. Gruff, unapproachable Teddy Ravan is confronting a strike and even death threats from union members who work at his printing business.
Wilson, in the summer before college, finds himself straddling three worlds: the newsroom, where he has landed a coveted job as a rookie reporter and where his colleagues find class struggle at the heart of every issue; the whirl of glittering North Shore debutante parties where he spends his nights; and the growing cold war between his parents at home. These worlds collide when he falls in love with the willful daughter of a renowned psychiatrist with a frightful past in World War II.
With unparalleled grace, Ward Just brings Wilson's circle to radiant life. Through his finely wrought portraits of a father and son, young lovers, and newsroom dramas, he also stirringly depicts an American political era.
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"Strong sense of time period and social class evoked in this piece, a coming of age story of an upper class youth from the Chicago suburbs trying to make sense of a world that includes debutante parties, a hip jazz club, and a summer job as an errand boy for a sensational newspaper. The language is rich, the tone something of a cross between Catcher in the Rye and a sumptuous Douglas Sirk film."
— Scot (4 out of 5 stars)
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“The book seems to fly by. Credit also goes to William Dufris, whose reading is both understated and highly effective. Dufris demonstrates a gift for dialogue, particularly in the scenes with Ravan and his girlfriend, Aurora Brule. But Dufris is most memorable when depicting Aurora’s father, Jack, who harbors haunting memories of WWII…Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
— AudioFile -
“Just…captures the era’s essence in a tight time frame…A Fitzgerald-like take on one young man’s abrupt awakening to the complexity and injustice of existence.”
— Booklist (starred review)
Awards
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Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award
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A New York Times Book Review 100 Notable Books Pick of the Year
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A Pulitzer Prize Finalist for Fiction
An Unfinished Season Listener Reviews
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" Why did I like this book? I don't really know..not my type of story really. The story of a young rather wealthy boy's passage into adulthood. The pace was slow, and, yet, I enjoyed it. You observe 'Wils'observing his parents,life ,and his girlfriend all through the eyes of this unaware boy. He maintains a strange distance despite or because of the family wealth and privilege. And, yet he is sympathetic. The character development is good, and perhaps no matter our financial status, we are (or were) unaware observers. "
— Deale, 2/19/2014 -
" Vivid, beautiful writing guides the reader through the life of Wils Ravan, a young society man as he experiences life in Chicago at the age of 19. Wonderfully deliberate word choice brings this story to life. "
— Lori, 2/12/2014 -
" Thoughtful and written beautifully. This was a story about growing up, realizing parents and adults are human, and that life is anything but simple. I liked it. "
— Annie, 2/3/2014 -
" I wouldn't have read this if not for book club, but I did end up enjoying it. Really lovely descriptions of 1950's era Chicago and the North Shore. "
— Jill, 1/25/2014 -
" Enjoyable and well written, but nothing in it really grabbed me. "
— Laura, 1/12/2014 -
" Eloquent, intellectual, rewarding. Recommended. "
— Carolyn, 1/8/2014 -
" Just wonderful . . . "
— Melissa, 11/12/2013 -
" Parts of this book seemed good, but parts seemed to drag on and on. Some of it tended to be over descriptive, in my opinion. But overall it was a pretty good story. "
— Rachel, 10/25/2013 -
" Good, used Othello play in the theme. "
— Sandi, 9/28/2013 -
" I really enjoyed Ward Just and look forward to reading other books by him. I found his writing style to jive with the amount of detail and background information I like in reading books. He also engages human characteristics very well. "
— Tammy, 9/22/2013 -
" If I could give this book two and an half stars I would, but giving it three stars is just too many. It was the epitome of 'okay.' Very atmospheric, but that was about all. The momentum it developed early on in the novel fizzled about a quarter of the way through. "
— Kate, 9/9/2013 -
" Excellent book set in the early 1950s debutante season. Contrast of nouveau riche and old money, with family dysfunction all around. Extremely well written and plotted. Will definitely read more by Ward Just. "
— Jinny, 11/1/2012 -
" Great coming of age novel. "
— Evans, 5/7/2012 -
" Had a gard time getting through this...I know other people love it... but it was tough for me. "
— joyousmin, 1/20/2012 -
" All in my smaller book club found this of interest and it engendered lots of discussion. "
— Edna, 1/8/2012 -
" Slow-moving account about life in 1950s Chicago. "
— Cherylck, 10/17/2011 -
" This book was an intersting look at the Chicago upper crust in the 50's. The characters were well drawn and the book caught the feelings of a first love very well. Reminded me a bit of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novels and The Catcher in the Rye. "
— Susan, 12/5/2010 -
" This book was an intersting look at the Chicago upper crust in the 50's. The characters were well drawn and the book caught the feelings of a first love very well. Reminded me a bit of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novels and The Catcher in the Rye. "
— Susan, 10/2/2010 -
" I really enjoyed Ward Just and look forward to reading other books by him. I found his writing style to jive with the amount of detail and background information I like in reading books. He also engages human characteristics very well. "
— Tammy, 11/22/2009 -
" Just wonderful . . . "
— Melissa, 8/6/2009 -
" A smoother beginning than the end balanced out. I'd read this again. <br/>A good one. <br/> "
— Chris, 4/13/2009 -
" If I could give this book two and an half stars I would, but giving it three stars is just too many. It was the epitome of 'okay.' Very atmospheric, but that was about all. The momentum it developed early on in the novel fizzled about a quarter of the way through. <br/> <br/> "
— Kate, 12/2/2008
About Ward Just
Ward Just won the James Fenimore Cooper Prize from the Society of American Historians for his novel A Dangerous Friend and was nominated for the National Book Award for Echo House. Just and his wife, Sarah Catchpole, divide their time between Martha’s Vineyard and Europe.
About William Dufris
William Dufris attended the University of Southern Maine in Portland-Gorham before pursuing a career in voice work in London and then the United States. He has won more than twenty AudioFile Earphones Awards, was voted one of the Best Voices at the End of the Century by AudioFile magazine, and won the prestigious Audie Award in 2012 for best nonfiction narration. He lives with his family in Maine.