IN SOME OTHER WORLD, MAYBE

A movie and quirks of fate send strangers in all directions—but mostly toward each other.

In 1992, the famous comic book series Eons & Empires is made into a movie, and its pull is irresistible to three sets of teenagers. In Florida, Chicago and Cincinnati, they make dates and ditch school to see their favorite comic on the big screen. From there, the book rockets into adult life, following some of those teens as they stumble through young adulthood and across one another. Oliver and Phoebe fall in love and then she disappears across the country; Adam develops from geek to movie star; and Sharon gets her heart broken then reinvents herself as a journalist. The characters call and write each other over the years as their relationships change, and much is made of their regular cross-country travels; the book features more airports than a James Bond movie. Goldhagen’s (Family and Other Accidents, 2006) writing is funny and honest and reflects well the oddities of modern America. However, at times the dialogue is so similar from arc to arc that it can be hard to differentiate them, which has the effect of making the stories blend together and seem a bit dull. And though Goldhagen cleverly winds the strands of each story around the others, the relationships between various characters don’t always add to other characters’ tales. Still, Goldhagen’s resistance to cliché keeps the story interesting, and it ends well. Suburban kids who matured in the 1990s and 2000s will find much to identify with, and fans of Rainbow Rowell’s adult novels will appreciate the realistic love stories. 

An original novel about how to let go of adolescent fantasies and make it to adulthood.