Replay

In Grimwood's 1988 novel, a struggling radio journalist, Jeff Winston, receives the opportunity of a lifetime, or two perhaps, when he's reborn after his death as a bright-eyed but very experienced 18-year-old. Narrator William Dufris's skilled delivery of the fantasy of reliving one's life has just the right tone of wise hindsight. Dufris astutely conveys Winston's complex emotions as he comes to realize that knowledge of the future is at once a blessing and a curse. With a layered tone, Dufris molds a character who understands what he must do to correct his past mistakes, but who seems doomed to fail no matter what action he takes. Through it all, Dufris injects a subtle questioning into Winston's voice as he ponders--"Why me?" L.B. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

January 1, 1987
In this intriguing fantasy adventure, Jeff Winston, a failing 43-year-old radio journalist, dies and wakes up in his 18-year-old body in 1963 with his memories of the next 25 years intact. He views the future from the perspective of naive 1963: "null-eyed punks in leather and chains . . . death-beams in orbit around the polluted, choking earth . . . his world sounded like the most nightmarish of science fiction.'' But Grimwood has transcended genre with this carefully observed, literate and original story. Jeff's knowledge soon becomes as much a curse as a blessing. After recovering from the shock (is the future a dream, or is it real life?), he plays out missed choices. In one life, for example, he falls in love with Pamela, a housewife who died nine minutes after Jeff; they try to warn the world of the disasters it faces, coming in conflict with the government and history. A third replayer turns out to be a serial killer, murdering the same people over and over. Jeff and Pamela are still searching for some missing part of their lives when they notice they are returning closer and closer to the time of their deaths, and realize that the replays and their times together may be coming to an end. 60,000 first printing; 75,000 ad/promo; film rights to United Artists; Literary Guild selection.