All Our Wrong Todays: A Novel

I read this entire book in a couple days on a couple of long train and plane rides, and it was good I had those blocks of time, because this book is a thrilling page-turner that I really couldn't put down. I found myself really touched by how much the main characters drew me in; I really cared about what happened to them and was getting anxious towards the end when it legitimately wasn't clear how the story would turn out for any of them. Creating good fiction about time travel is a huge challenge (something the book itself references several times in a meta fashion), but Mastai does a masterful job with it - he creates a web of divergent timelines, and even when the reader begins to feel a bit scrambled, he weaves them back together to tie off the loose ends, and he does so in a way that delivers some terrific twists. This book is fun and thought-provoking.

I debated between 3 and 4 stars for this. I was so excited to read this book and love the overall aspect of it, but holy cow, so much exposition. The majority of this book could have been cut out because it was repetitive and unnecessarily internal dialogue. Also Tom was victimy which got really old, really fast. But even saying that, power through and you get a pretty fun time travel book that has a nice story and a surprisingly solid ending. A good read just not as fun as it could be.

As a total time-travel geek, I found "All Our Wrong Todays" to be completely satisfying. Packed with humor and a lively "memoir" narrative, the pages flew by in this fun romp that exposes humanity for the fools that we really are. Elan Mastai, who is a professional screenwriter, skillfully exposes the consequences of using a time machine to "fix" problems of the past. Tom, the unlikely hero, is faced with choices that he was not prepared to make. Tom struggles with love, his devotion to his family, and an overwhelming desire to try to do the right thing.Even though this book takes on the complex topic of "multiverses" and other technologies, I found the book to be fun and often laugh-out-loud entertaining. It is well-suited to be a full Netflix or Amazon TV series.

This book was well worth reading. I am one of those geeks that love time travel, a particular favorite of mine is Time and Again by Jack Finney. This book was different and approached the idea of time travel much more scientifically. The beginning took awhile to take hold of me, but I am truly happy I stayed with it. Because I kept reading, the story took a hold of me and I really wanted to keep reading, stealing every spare moment to get back into "Tom's" memoir. I will help if you are a geek like me when it comes to books about time travel, and if either understand or don't mind scientific terminology in your reading...so, with that in mind, I think this is a book worth reading and I wholeheartedly recommend it.

This book had some really unique ideas, and I feel that's the reason I enjoyed it so much. Our main character, Tom Barren, doesn't seem to fit in the future he was born in -- a future filled with advanced technology, superior science, and a perfect government (so, a utopia that can never exist). Tom accidentally makes a huge mistake that changes history and sets humankind on a different course of reality: *our* reality.Yes, he's transported to our year 2016. Which in comparison seems like a dystopian nightmare.But as he is figuring out how to navigate this wasteland, he's noticing things in his life -- revolving around his family, his relationships, his work -- that he favors in this alternate reality.Like I mentioned, a really unique concept that was executed very well. One of my favorite science fiction standalone novels! If you are looking for an exciting ride with lots of science-y goodness, but also something very sweet and funny, check this book out.

Although this book is far from my own worldview and purpose in writing, I found the author’s style unique and entertaining. The weird leaps through a mind-boggling theme didn’t stump me. The science is wonderfully explained, even if it’s nothing but folly. The protagonist doesn’t even know who he is at times, but his insight is far beyond that of most made-up people. I found myself almost believing Tom or John (or Mr. Mastai) that this was a memoir and not a novel. The profanity is too heavy for my taste, and one chapter in particular is simply unnecessary, but I got through it. Even though my mind became exhausted and I thought more than once, this has got to be the end, I’m glad for the way it ended. Just right. Or wrong. Or…something. Anyway, its a great story.

I enjoyed this time travel romp very much. I don't read these tales very much because I assume that most of them are all cliche' and hackneyed. This one, however, breaks the mold. Very creative storytelling propels this story of a self-deprecating loser of a young man in a near utopian future who inadvertently alters history at a pivotal technological event, to change to the way you and I know it to be (screwed-up and dystopic) while enhancing his own stature. The parallels to Back to the Future are not unwarranted, although this is an infinitely darker tale. Of course the science fiction requires a substantial suspension of disbelief, but it's the protagonist's neurosis and how he interacts with his family members in the "new" future he created by his own making qualifies as delicious storytelling.