August and Then Some: A Novel

by David Prete

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393057997
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	04/23/2012
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.88(w) x 8.32(h) x 0.95(d)

About the Author

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

What People are Saying About This

Richard Bausch

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.

Editorial Reviews

In his devastating second novel (after Say That to My Face), Prete weaves the events of one steamy New York summer and its aftermath into a story of tragedy and redemption. When 17-year-old JT Savage finds out that his father has been sexually abusing his little sister, Danielle, he and his friend Eugene "Nokey" Cervella try to steal a beloved 1965 Shelby Cobra from the family garage, a doomed bid for revenge with grim consequences. In a parallel narrative, JT flees Yonkers and heads to Manhattan's Lower East Side to work for a landscaping company, and befriends Stephanie, a 13-year-old Dominican neighbor who has "sadness coming off her like heat." As the two forge a tentative bond, the extent of Danielle and Nokey's dire predicaments are revealed. Though the author never shies away from grappling with big issues—whether sociological, familial, or emotional—, Prete too often falls back on cursing and easy signifying accents to convey a sense of gritty inner-city authenticity, and some of the key relationships lack dimension. Ultimately, JT's reflection—"I wonder what ordinary feels like"—rings as the novel's most profound statement for a young man whose choices may permanently alienate him from normalcy. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"…impeccably crafted…wit, insight and some truly lovely writing that along with a heartbreaking final act, will prick your eyes with tears."

Edinburgh Metro - Paul Connolly

"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."

Independent Thinking Harper Collins

"…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."

Booklist - Donna Seaman

"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."

The Guardian (UK) - Catherine Taylor

"…Prete weaves a raw and tantalizing tale of revenge and repentance, played out when a Pandora’s box of family secrets implodes."

The Herald Scotland - Susan Swarbick

The chapters in this contemporary Greek tragedy alternate between the present—a sweltering summer in New York City, where narrator J.T. has run away to escape his family melodrama—and the events throughout his childhood in Yonkers, NY, that lead up to this break. The intense cast of characters includes the boorish patriarch John Savage; J.T.'s beloved younger sister Danielle, who is sexually abused by her father over a period of years; the physically abused wife who looks the other way; and J.T.'s misguided, thoughtless best friend. Like many fictional teenage narrators, 18-year-old J.T. seems a little too wise and articulate for his years, though the reader will certainly root for him as he attempts to put his life back together and slowly falls in love with Stephanie, a pregnant teen and fellow damaged soul. VERDICT This dark second novel by Prete (Say That to My Face) is an affecting story, despite some heavy-handed symbolism and in-your-face foreshadowing. The teenage protagonists and the subject matter will give it crossover appeal for mature YA readers. [See Prepub Alert, 10/23/11.]—Lauren Gilbert, Sachem P.L., Holbrook, NY

Library Journal

An intense, tragic story about a young man's struggle to take control of his life. JT Savage lives in a working-class New York City neighborhood and has a job lifting rocks. When he turned 12, his dad took him to a barroom and got him into the middle of a fight involving a pool cue. Now his younger sister Dani relates poorly to the world, for a dark reason he completely understands. Dad is a drunk and worse, and Mom is feckless. How can JT repay the old man for an awful hurt he'd inflicted on a member of his family? He and his potato-headed friend Nokey decide to steal JT's father's 1965 Shelby Cobra and sell it. Meanwhile, JT witnesses a Dominican girl named Stephanie in the process of getting herself pregnant. Later her boyfriend abandons her, and JT is there to help--but their relationship is not what the reader might expect. JT himself doesn't fit an easy stereotype. If there is one thing he wants in life it's to not be like his father, yet it wouldn't take a strong push in that direction to spoil his chances forever. Can he protect both Dani and Stephanie, give Dad his due and stay out of jail? His boss respects his hard work, but will JT be hauling rocks for the rest of his life? As JT might put it if he were prone to self-pity, he has a big f*ing challenge ahead. The language in this first-person account fits his upbringing: Without all the F-words the book would be a couple of pages shorter. 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