The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 23 March 1998
by Ken Grimwood
This book plays upon many fantasies, the core being the "if I knew then what I know now" variety. Jeff Winston, in a stale job and a stale marriage, dies of a sudden heart attack at the age of 43. Yet he awakens again in his college dorm room early in 1963, knowing everything that will happen in the next 25 years. Anybody who has seen Back to the Future, Part II will recognize the excellent gambling and investing opportunities that this offers. In fact, the seeds of several movies are in this book, including Groundhog Day and one or two Star Trek films. Jeff lives his life again, trying to get things right. After becoming fabulously wealthy, though, he dies at the same appointed moment and awakens again in 1963. After the initial interest, the reader may wonder how the author would make subsequent replays interesting. The possibilities of this premise are endless. However, since so much time is covered, only a cursory overview of each life can be easily drawn by the author. That enormous potential for story-telling was denied. Yet this book is a highly entertaining page-turner, precisely because it indulges one of life's richest fantasies. Grimwood's writing is fast-paced and smooth, but some of his fantasies, particularly those of a sexual nature, seem undeveloped and simple.
(Grimwood was awarded the 1988 World Fantasy Award for this novel.)
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