Remembrance of Things I Forgot

Yesterday I received two books that I had ordered from Amazon.com.  Neither is available in digital copy, so old school hardcover they are.

Remembrance of Things I Forgot is this months read for the book club I belong to.  One review:

“An extraordinary novel: smart, funny, fiendishly inventive, often moving and ultimately profound. I've never read anything like it. Bob Smith combines the ingenuity of science fiction with the emotional weight of autobiographical fiction. He then adds politics—in the form of the greatest villain of recent American history. This is a comic novel, but reading it can be a life-altering experience, like falling through a rabbit hole in space/time, and coming out the other side a better person.” —Christopher Bram, author of Gods and Monsters

“It’s safe to say your relationship is in trouble if the only way you can imagine solving your problems is by borrowing a time machine.”

            In 2006 comic book dealer John Sherkston has decided to break up with his physicist boyfriend, Taylor Esgard, on the very day Taylor announces he’s finally perfected a time machine for the U.S government. John travels back to 1986, where he encounters “Junior,” his younger, more innocent self. When Junior starts to flirt, John wonders how to reveal his identity: “I’m you, only with less hair and problems you can’t imagine.” He also meets up with the younger Taylor, and this unlikely trio teams up to plot a course around their future relationship troubles, prevent John’s sister from making a tragic decision, and stop George W. Bush from becoming president.

            In this wickedly comic, cross-country, time-bending journey, John confronts his own—and the nation’s—blunders, learning that a second chance at changing things for the better also brings new opportunities to screw them up. Through edgy humor, time travel, and droll one-liners, Bob Smith examines family dysfunction, suicide, New York City, and recent American history while effortlessly blending domestic comedy with science fiction. Part acidic political satire, part wild comedy, and part poignant social scrutiny, Remembrance of Things I Forgot is an uproarious adventure filled with sharp observations about our recent past.

It's ironic how just this past week I was listening to a Firesign Theater CD of "The Further Adventures of Nick Danger" from the album "How Can You Be in Two Places at Once When You're Not Anywhere at All".  Somehow, reading this book reminds me of that, what with time travel and one liners.

The book club has given me the opportunity to spend some time with the TV turned off and to instead, loose myself in the pages of some entertaining stories and meet some fascinating characters.  I have been enjoying most of the books we have read and this one is turning out to be a good one.  I look forward to our monthly meetings where we gather at a restaurant and discuss the book over dinner.  And those of you that know me, know that I love to eat!