Book Review: Day

(Borrowed from the Flushing Public Library where they have more books than in Jackson Heights) Michael Cunningham's post-COVID novel closely resembles his previous works The Hours and By Nightfall. Like The Hours, it has a three-part structure and like By Nightfall, everyone is in love with the single gay male relative. This short work takes place during the morning, afternoon and night on the same day on three successive years April 5, 2019, 2020, and 2021. A well-off, white, modern family is unhappy with their unconventional lifestyle. Isabel and Dan share a Brooklyn brownstone with Isabel's gay brother Robbie (the one everyone is in love with), an elementary school teacher unhappy with his job. Robbie and Dan share parenting for Isabel and Dan's kids, the annoyingly precocious and possibly psychic Violet and the adolescent and sullen Nathan. BTW, did I mention Isabel is unhappy with her job as a magazine photo editor and Dan is unhappy with his status as a former minor rock star. Plus Isabel and Robbie's biggest emotional investment is in creating Instagram posts for an imaginary dream man called Wolfe. Meanwhile, Dan's brother Garth, a struggling sculptor who's unhappy but very good looking like Dan, visits with his son Odin (really? who's gonna name their kid Odin?), the product of artificial insemination with his lesbian friend Chess (short for something? Does she like the game?). Both Chess and Garth are unhappy with their arrangement. Garth wants to be more of a dad to Odin while Chess wants him to keep his distance. BTW, they all can pay the rent and afford insurance and groceries, so there's that. But I suppose a novel about people content with their lot wouldn't sell very well.

Don't get me wrong, Cunningham is a skilled writer and crafts beautiful descriptions of NYC and environs. In the first section, we go through a hectic morning as the characters prepare for school and work. In the second, we're in the afternoon after a few months of lockdown and everyone is even more miserable than in the first part. The third nighttime segment deals with the aftermath of the pandemic and personal changes. Day is beautifully written, but I didn't believe or care about a lot of the conflicts.