The Huge Season

THE HUGE SEASON

by Wright Morris

 

Nomination: National Book Finalist 1955

 

Date Read: December 16, 2021

 

I’ll open by saying this is the most expensive Kindle book I’ve ever purchased. At $23.75, it should come with a compliment or a massage. Sheesh.

 

The Huge Season explores the ideals of four young men as they hold up against the test of time. We see three men in particular, Lawrence, Foley and Proctor, with Lawrence’s friend Dickie popping in and out at times. They all met at a west coast college and found themselves as roommates, each with distinct personalities, goals and passions. The narrator, Foley, recaps their college shenanigans and the real world that was waiting for them during an era of great social upheaval.

 

Charles Lawrence, a tennis star, an intellectually lazy student with a penchant for danger, dies after committing suicide after being gored by a bull in his nether-region, most likely diminishing his manhood. It is largely Charles’ death that brings the friends back together for an awkward and somewhat disastrous reunion in New York. Foley, our trusty narrator, recounts this present day in New York, interspersed by recollections of their college days as a means of providing context for where each of them have ended up.

 

Foley learns that Proctor was called before the McCarthy committee to testify. Proctor has ended up with Foley’s ex-girlfriend Lou Baker. The dinner reunion is completed by Dickie, a playboy friend of Lawrence’s and a now matronly flight attendant who’s only relation to the group is that she was in Paris in 1929. To say this is an odd mix is an understatement.

 

While I appreciated the dissection of literature, conviction, the demand for social change while worshipping the American ideal, there wasn’t a lot for me to grasp here. I didn’t particularly care for any of these characters and I felt subtle yearnings among the college friends that weren’t fully explored. Did I find beauty here? Not really. But I did find tenderness and an understanding of America during a crucial portion of her evolution.

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