The Merry Month of May by James Jones is a novel set against the backdrop of the May 1968 student revolution in Paris. The story follows Jack Hartley, an American expat living in Paris and editing a Literary Review, who becomes entangled with the well-off Gallagher family. The book delves into themes of changing values, generational divides, and the descent of an American family into chaos amidst the riots. Jones weaves in elements of sex and violence but focuses more on family bonds, friendship dynamics, and the impact of the revolution on the characters.
From The Publisher:
The only one of my contemporaries who I felt had more talent than myself was James Jones. And he has also been the one writer of any time for whom I felt any love."Norman Mailer
Paris. May, 1968. This is the Paris of the barricaded boulevards of rebelling students' strongholds, of the literati, the sexual anarchists, the leftistswritten chillingly of a time in French history closely paralleling America in the late '60s. The reader sees, feels, smells and fears all the turmoil of the frightening social quicksand of 1968.
James Jones (19211977) established himself as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century with his WWII trilogy, From Here to Eternity (National Book Award winner), The Thin Red Line and Whistle .
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