In a book club and starting to plan your reads for next year? Check out our 2025 picks.

What do readers think of Day by Michael Cunningham? Write your own review.

Summary | Reviews | More Information | More Books

Day by Michael Cunningham

Day

A Novel

by Michael Cunningham

  • Critics' Consensus:
  • Readers' Rating:
  • Published:
  • Nov 2023, 288 pages
  • Rate this book

  • Buy This Book

About this book

Reviews

Page 4 of 4
There are currently 29 reader reviews for Day
Order Reviews by:

Write your own review!

Barbara S. (Gig Harbor, WA)

One Day leaving many questions
Day, by Michael Cunningham is another novel which is set in the time period of COVID and its aftermath. Cunningham uses an intriguing device of following an extended family through the same day in 2019, 2020, and 2021. This is a very effective way of showing the the thoughts and interactions that families went through during this time.

However, I found some of his characters thoughts and actions slightly disjointed, leaving the reader with many unanswered questions. In particular, the 5 year old daughter seems too self-aware for her age. Also the interaction of Dan and Robbie seems to be left hanging in the air.

On the whole, an intriguing premise to a story that perhaps could have been better fleshed out.
Beth M. (New York, NY)

Overwrought dysfunctional family story!
Michael Cunningham is a beautiful, thoughtful writer. I've read all his books and loved most of them. I was so excited to read this new book after his long absence. Unfortunately I didn't love it. It's a story of a dysfunctional family; Isabel and Dan, their two children, Isabel's younger brother Robbie and several other characters. It takes place before, during and after the pandemic on the same day of the year. It examines the impact of the lockdown and the characters inner turmoil and choices moving forward. Robbie was the character I cared most about. He was pivotal in this story and Cunningham did a masterful job of portraying him with all his achingly beautiful humanity. The book which was relatively short felt overwrought to me. The characters seem so embroiled with their inner dialogs which often felt unimportant. Overall while the book touched on thought provoking topics, like the falsehoods on social media, I found the story and the characters to be rather tedious.
Debbie C. (Sun Lakes, AZ)

Family members and how they handled the pandemic
The story came across to me as a dysfunctional family. They did not appear to be happy with themselves or each other. The introduction of Wolfe got me confused at first. The other characters I really didn't get why they were involved. I only managed to read the first day before I lost total interest and didn't pick it up again.
Carolyn A. (Lake Oswego, OR)

Day - I couldn't get through it:(
I found this book disjointed and hard to force myself to read. I quit after 3 attempts and 3 chapters. I will pick it up later and try again, but, for now, I wouldn't recommend it!
Gail G. (Hernando, FL)

Disappointing
The format of this book is interesting. It takes place on the same day in three consecutive years the middle of which was the pandemic year of lockdown. I initially thought that the pandemic lockdown would take a more prominent place in the story. Wrong! It was the shortest part of the book. The characters were all so neurotic and self absorbed that I couldn't sympathize with any of them. They all seemed disconnected from each other, even the children characters were strange. I'm not sure what the author was trying to say but I totally missed it.

Read-Alikes

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket
    A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens
    by Raul Palma
    Raul Palma's debut novel A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens introduces Hugo Contreras, who came to the ...
  • Book Jacket
    The MANIAC
    by Benjamin Labatut
    The MANIAC by Benjamin Labatut is an ambitious work that falls squarely into the category of fiction...
  • Book Jacket: Blood Test
    Blood Test
    by Charles Baxter
    Brock Hobson is a loving single father, a Sunday School teacher, and an upstanding and honest ...
  • Book Jacket: The Barn
    The Barn
    by Wright Thompson
    The barn doesn't reek of catastrophe at first glance. It is on the southwest quarter of Section 2, ...

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Libby Lost and Found
    by Stephanie Booth

    Libby Lost and Found is a book for people who don't know who they are without the books they love.

Who Said...

Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some to be chewed on and digested.

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

H I O the G

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.