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Reading novelist Ward Just is a journey to a different era in American literature. His work fits comfortably in the period of Hemingway, Faulkner and Fitzgerald. Indeed, readers of Just's most recent novel, AN UNFINISHED SEASON, may be struck by its distinct similarity in theme and tone to Fitzgerald's THE GREAT GATSBY. Both novels view the clash between American cultures and class as observed by a young, innocent narrator learning difficult life lessons.
The Nick Carraway of AN UNFINISHED SEASON is Wilson Ravan, a nineteen-year-old resident of Quarterday, Illinois, an affluent North Shore suburb of Chicago. "The winter of the year my father carried a gun for his own protection was the coldest on record in Chicago" begins the novel. The winter in question is the early 1950s when Midwestern America and the nation are suffering the trauma of post-World War II metamorphosis brought about by anticommunist fervor, worker unrest and reexamination of the role of the United States in a changing world. In the brief time frame of the novel, young Ravan will graduate from high school, prepare to enter the University of Chicago, spend his summer on the North Shore social circuit, and work as a copy boy at a tabloid Chicago newspaper. Along the way, the struggles of his father and mother to confront both business and personal dilemmas will awaken Wilson to the complexity and injustice of life. Just like Nick Carraway, he will see the destruction caused by shallow and callused people.
Young Ravan meets Aurora Brule at one of the numerous debutant dances of the summer. The young couple fall in love. Aurora's father, Jack Brule, is a society psychiatrist, a man of complexity and mystery. Dr. Brule is a man burdened by tragic memories of World War II. Through this character, Ward Just, a veteran of the Vietnam conflict, is able to share with the reader his views on the experience and horrors of war. Like Ernest Hemingway, Just has led a rich and adventurous life. Those experiences form a foundation for his writing. Be it combat, politics, journalism or any number of issues, Just is not afraid to share with the reader his life experiences through the characters of his novel.
Ward Just grew up in Waukegan, Illinois, a middle-class community north of Chicago lacking the social status of the mythical Quarterday community chronicled in AN UNFINISHED SEASON. His family owned a small paper, the Waukegan News-Sun, where Just spent his early years as a journalist. While this novel is not a biographical work, it is nonetheless written from the perspective of a man who has experienced the evils of yellow journalism. Just knows his profession and he also knows well the politics and psyche of the Midwest. Whether it is the working class laborers of Ted Ravan's factory, or the upper class debutantes of Lake Forest and Winnetka, the characters in this novel have been superbly created by a writer of brilliance and insight.
Ward Just may be one of America's best-kept secrets. This is his 14th novel, and although several of his previous efforts have earned accolades and writing awards, he may still be an unknown talent to many readers. AN UNFINISHED SEASON is a coming-of-age story reminiscent of not only THE GREAT GATSBY, but also of J.D. Sallinger's CATCHER IN THE RYE. For those familiar with Ward Just's work, AN UNFINISHED SEASON is an anticipated summer treat. For first-time visitors to this novelist, be glad that you have thirteen other novels to read while you wait for his next effort.
--- Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman
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