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Book Reviews of Centuries of June: A Novel

Centuries of June: A Novel
Centuries of June A Novel
Author: Keith Donohue
ISBN-13: 9780307450289
ISBN-10: 0307450287
Publication Date: 5/31/2011
Pages: 352
Rating:
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 2

3.5 stars, based on 2 ratings
Publisher: Crown
Book Type: Hardcover
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

2 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

donkeycheese avatar reviewed Centuries of June: A Novel on + 1255 more book reviews
This has got to be one of the strangest books I have ever read. Nonetheless, it is very addictive. It opens with "Jack" watching his blood flow onto the bathroom tiles. He's hit his head with half of his naked body in the bathroom and half in the hallway. He momentarily thinks how regretful he would be if someone found him in his current situation. His pain ebbs and that is when his departed father appears sitting on the edge of the bathtub.

Jack immediately feels better and is able to stand. He puts on a robe and goes to fetch his dad a shot of whiskey. But on his return to the bathroom, with the whiskey, he pauses at his bedroom and peeks in. Eight naked women are sleeping in his bed. But then one of the women appear behind him in the bathroom, and proceeds to tell him her life story. And the stories continue as each woman appears in the bathroom. Each woman is from a different point in time and some of them are mythical. But what of Jack? Will he wake up? Who hit him on the head? Why?

Centuries of June is a unique tale that will keep the reader entranced. Crude language and sexual situations are intermixed sporadically, but humor outshines it. The talking cat, Harpo, lightens any situation the protagonist finds himself in. The character building is unique and I can honestly say that Keith Donohue has one powerful imagination. The worlds he builds for each woman is detailed and easily imagined. A compelling novel sure to entertain!
reviewed Centuries of June: A Novel on + 23 more book reviews
Very interesting concept for a book. I don't like giving away plots, and figuring out what the heck is going on is part of the "experience" of it, so I won't expand very much. All of the characters were interesting and the stories told to the main character were wonderfully descriptive. My only problem was that the actions of the "storytellers" were bizarre to say the least. Perhaps this is because a male author is writing about women? Overall a good read, and the fact that it is broken up into stories makes it easy to read slowly.