Remembrance of Things I Forgot

Starred review from May 23, 2011
Comic book dealer John Sherkston has finally decides to break up with boyfriend Taylor Esgard after 20 years. However, he decides to do it the day that Taylor completes his masterworkâa functioning time machine, in writer/comedian Smith's (Selfish and Perverse) latest novel. Using this machine, John accidentally travels back to 1986, when he and Taylor first met (and when Molly Ringwald ruled). He seizes this opportunity to give his younger self lots of information, try to save his sister and father from their early deaths, and most daringly, to stop George W. Bush from becoming President. His cohortsâhis younger self, "Junior," the younger Taylor, and a group of friendsâare pursued by Dick Cheneys old and young and John reaches some important conclusions about life, roads not taken, and what can still be changed. Smith takes an absolutely hysterical romp through our achingly recent history. His characters are sharp, funny, and instantly recognizable in their queer archetypes without being stereotypical. He's not afraid of balancing humor and sadness and manages to combine youthful optimism with the cynicism of age. This will appeal most to a very specific niche audienceâLGBT-friendly East Coasters; regardless of scope, Smith executes his tale with witty aplomb.

May 15, 2011
Comic book dealer John is about to break up with his physicist boyfriend, Taylor, when Taylor announces that he is building a time machine for the U.S. government. He created it with scientific intentions but also sees it as a back-up means of escape in case of world chaos. But Vice President Dick Cheney wants nothing less of the device than the changing of history. After all, he says, he changes history every day. You get used to it . . . like a hobby . . . and Im good at it. So John decides to go back to 1986. There he encounters Junior, his younger self, and Taylors youthful self, and the three set out to change personal and global history. Can John get his father to stop drinking before its too late? Can a scandal they engineer, which places W Bush in a compromising situation, prevent his election? Wildly comic political satire mixes with cutting comedy, social commentary, and a touch of sf in this seriously entertaining summer read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)