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{{Short description|2017 novel by Elan Mastai}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox book {{Infobox book
| name = All Our Wrong Todays | name = All Our Wrong Todays
| title_orig = | title_orig =
| translator = | translator =
| image = | image = All Our Wrong Todays.jpg
| border = yes | border = yes
| image_size = | image_size =
| caption = First edition cover | caption = First US edition cover
| author = ] | author = ]
| illustrators = | illustrators =
| cover_artist = | cover_artist =
| country = Canada | country = {{plainlist|
*United States
*Canada
}}
| language = English | language = English
| series = | series =
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*384 (CA) *384 (CA)
}} }}
| awards = | award = {{ill|Prix Bob Morane|fr}}
| followed_by = | followed_by =
| isbn = 978-1-101-98513-7 | isbn = 978-1-101-98513-7
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'''''All Our Wrong Todays''''' is a 2017 ] novel by Canadian writer ]. It is Mastai's debut novel and was first published in February 2017 in the United States by ], in Canada by ], and in the United Kingdom in March 2017 by ]. The novel is about a man from a utopia in an ] who finds himself stuck in our reality after a ] accident. '''''All Our Wrong Todays''''' is a 2017 ] novel by Canadian screenwriter ]. It is Mastai's debut novel and was first published in February 2017 in the United States by ], in Canada by ], and in the United Kingdom in March 2017 by ]. The novel is about a man from a utopia in an ] who finds himself stuck in our reality after a ] accident.


''All Our Wrong Todays'' was nominated for the 2018 ],<ref name=Sidewise2018/> and the 2018 ].<ref name=Sunburst/> It was also ] for the 2019 ]'s ] competition.<ref name=Porter/> The book was translated into French by Jean Bonnefoy as ''Tous nos contretemps'', published by Bragelonne in September 2017,<ref name=ISFDB-French/> and translated into German by Rainer Schmidt as ''Die beste meiner Welten'', published by ] in April 2018.<ref name=ISFDB-German/> ''Tous nos contretemps'' won the 2018 Prix Bob Morane for Best Foreign Novel.<ref name="Prix Bob Morane"/> ''All Our Wrong Todays'' was nominated for the 2018 ],<ref name=Sidewise2018/> and the 2018 ].<ref name=Sunburst/> It was also ] for the 2019 ]'s ] competition.<ref name=Porter/> The book has been translated into 24 languages,<ref name=Goldberg/> including French by Jean Bonnefoy as ''Tous nos contretemps'', published by Bragelonne in September 2017,<ref name=ISFDB-French/> and German by Rainer Schmidt as ''Die beste meiner Welten'', published by ] in April 2018.<ref name=ISFDB-German/> ''Tous nos contretemps'' won the 2018 {{ill|Prix Bob Morane|fr}} for Best Foreign Novel.<ref name="Prix Bob Morane"/>

==Background==
Mastai started writing at 26 after his mother died. He said she had motivated him to make the most of the time he had, and to stop erecting barriers that prevented him from pursuing his goals. "I started writing because of that. I started going from wanting to be a writer to actually writing."<ref name=Lea/> Mastai worked in the Hollywood film industry for a decade writing screenplays for several films, including '']'', '']'' and '']'' (also released as ''What If''). Then he began working on a story about a man struck in an alternate reality, and realized that it was a novel, not a screenplay. Mastai saw this as a new challenge, and an opportunity to write about his mother. "I had never really written too much about that experience of losing my mom. I didn’t want to write some sort of grim and depressing memoir about it either … So on one level I was writing about my mother’s death, but I used time machines ... to do it."<ref name=Lea/> Writing ''All Our Wrong Todays'' was also an opportunity for Mastai to free himself from the limitations of screenplays, and to experiment.<ref name=Lea/>

Some of the ideas for ''All Our Wrong Todays'' came from Mastai's grandfather. Mastai explained that his grandfather had an extensive collection of 1950s and 1960s science fiction magazines with "wild, weird stories and ... garishly painted covers of robots and rocket ships, mad scientists and nifty technology."<ref name=Burt-interview/> As a youngster, Mastai often wondered why the future dreamt up by those artists and writers was not happening. Years later, the premise for the novel occurred to him: what if that future ''did'' happen, but Tom Barren travelled back in time and wiped it out?<ref name=Burt-interview/> Mastai started writing ''All Our Wrong Todays'' in July 2014.<ref name=Burt-interview/> He secured a $1.25&nbsp;million book deal with US publisher, ] in 2015,<ref name=Gamerman/><ref name=Deahl/> and finished writing the novel in May 2016.<ref name=Burt-interview/>


==Plot summary== ==Plot summary==
Tom Barren wakes up in 2016 in a reality that is not his own. He comes from an alternate reality where, thanks to Lionel Goettreider's 1965 invention of the Goettreider Engine, the world has unlimited free energy. In 2016, Tom's world has become a techno-utopia with jetpacks, hover cars and space colonization. Tom's domineering father, Victor Barren has invented the time machine and wants to send someone back to 1965 to witness Lionel turning on his engine. Penelope Weschler, a no-nonsense high flyer, is chosen to be the first chrononaut, and Tom is named her understudy. But Tom falls in love with Penelope and accidentally gets her pregnant, which disqualifies her from the program. Victor cancels the time travel experiment and Penelope kills herself. A distraught Tom secretly commandeers the time machine and sends himself back to 1965, where he watches Lionel turn his machine on. But things go wrong with the time machine's ], and Tom materializes in the room. A startled Lionel turns his engine off again, and this erases Tom's utopian timeline and he finds himself in 2016 in our present-day technologically-stunted realty. Tom Barren wakes up in 2016 in a reality that is not his own. He comes from an ] where, thanks to Lionel Goettreider's 1965 invention of the Goettreider Engine, the world has unlimited free energy. In 2016, Tom's world became a techno-utopia with ]s, ]s and ]. Tom's domineering father, Victor Barren invents the ] and wants to send someone back to 1965 to witness Lionel turning on his engine. Penelope Weschler, a no-nonsense high flyer, is chosen to be the first "chrononaut", and Tom is named her understudy. But Tom falls in love with Penelope and accidentally gets her pregnant, which disqualifies her from the program. Victor cancels the time travel experiment and Penelope kills herself. A distraught Tom secretly commandeers the time machine and sends himself back to 1965, where he watches Lionel turn his machine on. But things go wrong with the time machine's ], and Tom materializes in the room. A startled Lionel turns his engine off again, and this erases Tom's utopian timeline and he finds himself in 2016 in our present-day technologically-stunted realty.


In this timeline, Tom is John, a successful architect. His father is kind and understanding, his mother (who had died in Tom's alternate reality) is alive, and he has a sister. Tom also meets and falls in love with Penny, a mild-mannered book store owner. Tom/John tries to convince Penny and his family that this reality is the "wrong", but they do not believe him. Tom realizes that the only way to prove his story is to track down Lionel Goettreider. Tom finds out that Lionel became a recluse and is living in Hong Kong. He discovers that Lionel had secretly turned his Goettreider Engine back on again, but did not show it to the world. Tom also learns that Lionel has invented his own time machine, and wants to send Tom back to 1965 to correct the mistake Tom made and restore the timeline. In this timeline, Tom is John, a successful architect. His father is kind and understanding, his mother (who had died in Tom's alternate reality) is alive, and he has a sister. Tom also meets and falls in love with Penny, a mild-mannered book store owner. Tom/John tries to convince Penny and his family that this reality is "wrong", but they do not believe him. Tom realizes that the only way to prove his story is to track down Lionel Goettreider. Tom finds out that after the Goettreider Engine mishap in 1965, Lionel became a ] and moved to Hong Kong, taking his engine with him. He discovers that Lionel secretly turned the engine back on again, but did not show it to the world. Tom also learns that Lionel has invented his own time machine, and wants to send Tom back to 1965 to correct the mistake Tom made and restore the timeline.


==Critical reception== ==Critical reception==
In a review in '']'' magazine, American science fiction author ] called ''All Our Wrong Todays'' "a great and exceptional find".<ref name=DiFilippo/> He said that for a mainstream writer to choose science fiction for his debut novel, Mastai has proved himself to be quite capable. Di Filippo said Mastai handles the genre with "playful fluency" and "does not make a single misstep with his speculations or language".<ref name=DiFilippo/> The protagonist's admiration of ] early in the book led Di Filippo to state "its punchy, demotic, self-denigrating prose ... and its general fascination with the ways humans can screw up" makes ''All Our Wrong Todays'' "pure Vonnegut".<ref name=DiFilippo/> Di Filippo added that the book's "elaborate paradoxes and causal loops that any great time travel novel must offer" puts it alongside "classics such as ]'s '']''".<ref name=DiFilippo/> In a review in '']'' magazine, American science fiction author ] called ''All Our Wrong Todays'' "a great and exceptional find".<ref name=DiFilippo/> He said that for a mainstream writer to choose science fiction for his debut novel, Mastai has proved himself to be quite capable. Di Filippo said Mastai handles the genre with "playful fluency" and "does not make a single misstep with his speculations or language".<ref name=DiFilippo/> The protagonist's admiration of ] early in the book led Di Filippo to state, "its punchy, demotic, self-denigrating prose ... and its general fascination with the ways humans can screw up" makes ''All Our Wrong Todays'' "pure Vonnegut".<ref name=DiFilippo/> Di Filippo added that the book's "elaborate paradoxes and causal loops that any great time travel novel must offer" puts it alongside "classics such as ]'s '']''".<ref name=DiFilippo/>


Kayti Burt called ''All Our Wrong Todays'' "a fun, fast-paced, thought-provoking ride".<ref name=Burt/> In a review of the book at '']'' Burt wrote that it has some "grand insightful things" to say about our reality and the possible alternates.<ref name=Burt/> She found the structure of the book "unusual" for a time travel story, in that it is a science fiction novel presented as a "memoir" with a literary feel that makes it closer to ]'s '']'' than ]'s '']''. Burt also found the book clever in the way it describes our reality as the "wrong" one, and how the protagonist is an ] who is "often unlikable ... self-indulgent thoughtless".<ref name=Burt/> Kayti Burt called ''All Our Wrong Todays'' "a fun, fast-paced, thought-provoking ride".<ref name=Burt-review/> In a review of the book at '']'' Burt wrote that it has some "grand insightful things" to say about our reality and the possible alternates.<ref name=Burt-review/> She found the structure of the book "unusual" for a time travel story: it is a science fiction novel presented as a "memoir" with a literary feel that makes it closer to ]'s '']'' than ]'s '']''. Burt also found the book clever in the way it describes our reality as the "wrong" one, and how the protagonist is an ] who is "often unlikable ... self-indulgent thoughtless".<ref name=Burt-review/>


American novelist ] described ''All Our Wrong Todays'' as a "dazzling and complex novel".<ref name=Donohue/> In a review in '']'', he said the book has an "ingenuous plot" that winds its way through alternate realities, and tackles the familiar problems of time travel "in fascinating new ways".<ref name=Donohue/> Donohue added that readers who sometimes wish they could turn back the clock may find comfort "in the masochistic pleasures of this trippy and ultimately touching novel."<ref name=Donohue/> American novelist ] described ''All Our Wrong Todays'' as a "dazzling and complex novel".<ref name=Donohue/> In a review in '']'', he said the book has an "ingenuous plot" that winds its way through alternate realities, and tackles the familiar problems of time travel "in fascinating new ways".<ref name=Donohue/> Donohue added that readers who sometimes wish they could turn back the clock may find comfort "in the masochistic pleasures of this trippy and ultimately touching novel."<ref name=Donohue/>


Reviewing ''All Our Wrong Todays'' in '']'', August C. Bourré wrote that much of the book is taken up by Tom reminiscing the world he has lost, and Mastai uses Tom's nostalgia to examine both his world and the "wrong" world he finds himself stuck in.<ref name=Bourre/> Bourré said that as the book progresses, Mastai's "metaphors or insights more sophisticated than the chatty tone in which the novel is narrated", but felt it would have been better to have them start at the beginning<ref name=Bourre/>. Bourré concluded that this "is a clever book with a lot of potential", but complained that some of the Mastai's philosophizing tends to get "in his own way prevents the full realization of that potential."<ref name=Bourre/> Reviewing ''All Our Wrong Todays'' in '']'', August C. Bourré wrote that much of the book is taken up by Tom reminiscing the world he has lost, and Mastai uses Tom's nostalgia to examine both his world and the "wrong" world he finds himself stuck in.<ref name=Bourre/> Bourré said that as the book progresses, Mastai's "metaphors or insights more sophisticated than the chatty tone in which the novel is narrated", but felt it would have been better to have them start at the beginning.<ref name=Bourre/> Bourré concluded that this "is a clever book with a lot of potential", but complained that some of the Mastai's philosophizing tends to get "in his own way prevents the full realization of that potential."<ref name=Bourre/>

==Adaptation==
''All Our Wrong Todays'' was published in February 2017, and a month later, ] and ] secured the screen rights to the book for $1.25&nbsp;million.<ref name=Goldberg/> Mastai signed a contract with Paramount to write the screenplay for a potential film,<ref name=Lea/> and he submitted a draft before the book tour began in March 2017.<ref name=Greene/>

In January 2021, ] announced that ] and Pascal will produce an adaptation of ''All Our Wrong Todays'' for a TV series. Mastai will write the script.<ref name=White/><ref name=Otterson/>


==References== ==References==
{{reflist|refs= {{reflist|refs=


<ref name=Sidewise2018>{{cite web |url=http://www.sfadb.com/Sidewise_Awards_2018 |title=Sidewise Awards 2018 |website=Science Fiction Awards Database |access-date=5 December 2024}}</ref> <ref name=Sidewise2018>{{cite web |url=http://www.sfadb.com/Sidewise_Awards_2018 |title=Sidewise Awards 2018 |website=Science Fiction Awards Database |access-date=December 5, 2024}}</ref>


<ref name=Sunburst>{{cite magazine |url=https://locusmag.com/2018/06/2018-sunburst-awards-longlist/ |title=2018 Sunburst Awards Longlist |magazine=] |issn=0047-4959 |date=June 11, 2018 |access-date=December 5, 2024}}</ref> <ref name=Sunburst>{{cite magazine |url=https://locusmag.com/2018/06/2018-sunburst-awards-longlist/ |title=2018 Sunburst Awards Longlist |magazine=] |issn=0047-4959 |date=June 11, 2018 |access-date=December 5, 2024}}</ref>


<ref name="Prix Bob Morane">{{cite magazine |url=https://locusmag.com/2018/03/2018-prix-bob-morane/ |title=2018 Prix Bob Morane |magazine=] |issn=0047-4959 |date=March 13, 2018 |access-date=December 4, 2024}}</ref> <ref name="Prix Bob Morane">{{cite magazine |url=https://locusmag.com/2018/03/2018-prix-bob-morane/ |title=2018 Prix Bob Morane |magazine=] |issn=0047-4959 |date=March 13, 2018 |access-date=December 4, 2024}}</ref>

<ref name=Goldberg>{{cite magazine |last=Goldberg |first=Lesley |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/seth-macfarlane-adapting-all-our-wrong-todays-for-peacock-4122612/ |title=Seth MacFarlane Adapting 'All Our Wrong Todays' for Peacock |magazine=] |date=January 27, 2021 |access-date=December 24, 2024 |issn=0018-3660}}</ref>


<ref name=ISFDB-French>{{cite web |url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?2512036 |title=Tous nos contretemps |website=] |access-date=December 5, 2024}}</ref> <ref name=ISFDB-French>{{cite web |url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?2512036 |title=Tous nos contretemps |website=] |access-date=December 5, 2024}}</ref>
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<ref name=ISFDB-German>{{cite web |url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?2356447 |title= Die beste meiner Welten |website=] |access-date=December 5, 2024}}</ref> <ref name=ISFDB-German>{{cite web |url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?2356447 |title= Die beste meiner Welten |website=] |access-date=December 5, 2024}}</ref>


<ref name=Burt>{{cite web |last=Burt |first=Kayti |url=https://www.denofgeek.com/culture/all-our-wrong-todays-review/ |title=All Our Wrong Todays Review |website=] |date=February 20, 2018 |access-date=December 9, 2024}}</ref> <ref name=Burt-review>{{cite web |last=Burt |first=Kayti |url=https://www.denofgeek.com/culture/all-our-wrong-todays-review/ |title=All Our Wrong Todays Review |website=] |date=February 20, 2018 |access-date=December 9, 2024}}</ref>


<ref name=Donohue>{{cite news |last=Donohue |first=Keith |author-link=Keith Donohue |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/all-our-wrong-todays-by-elan-mastai/2017/02/16/f58dcedc-f453-11e6-8d72-263470bf0401_story.html |title='All Our Wrong Todays’, by Elan Mastai |newspaper=] |location=Washington, D.C. |issn=0190-8286 |date=February 16, 2017 |access-date=Decenber 10, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217061515/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/all-our-wrong-todays-by-elan-mastai/2017/02/16/f58dcedc-f453-11e6-8d72-263470bf0401_story.html |archive-date=February 17, 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref> <ref name=Donohue>{{cite news |last=Donohue |first=Keith |author-link=Keith Donohue (novelist) |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/all-our-wrong-todays-by-elan-mastai/2017/02/16/f58dcedc-f453-11e6-8d72-263470bf0401_story.html |title='All Our Wrong Todays', by Elan Mastai |newspaper=] |location=Washington, D.C. |issn=0190-8286 |date=February 16, 2017 |access-date=December 10, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217061515/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/all-our-wrong-todays-by-elan-mastai/2017/02/16/f58dcedc-f453-11e6-8d72-263470bf0401_story.html |archive-date=February 17, 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref>


<ref name=DiFilippo>{{cite magazine |last=Di Filippo |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Di Filippo |url=https://locusmag.com/2017/02/paul-di-filippo-reviews-elan-mastai/ |title=Paul Di Filippo reviews Elan Mastai |magazine=] |issn=0047-4959 |date=February 16, 2017 |access-date=12 December 2024}}</ref> <ref name=DiFilippo>{{cite magazine |last=Di Filippo |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Di Filippo |url=https://locusmag.com/2017/02/paul-di-filippo-reviews-elan-mastai/ |title=Paul Di Filippo reviews Elan Mastai |magazine=] |issn=0047-4959 |date=February 16, 2017 |access-date=December 12, 2024}}</ref>


<ref name=Bourre>{{Cite magazine |last=Bourré |first=August C. |title=All Our Wrong Todays |url=https://quillandquire.com/review/all-our-wrong-todays/ |date=February 9, 2017 |access-date=December 12, 2024 |magazine=] |issn=0033-6491}}</ref> <ref name=Bourre>{{Cite magazine |last=Bourré |first=August C. |title=All Our Wrong Todays |url=https://quillandquire.com/review/all-our-wrong-todays/ |date=February 9, 2017 |access-date=December 12, 2024 |magazine=] |issn=0033-6491}}</ref>


<ref name=Porter>{{Cite magazine |last=Porter |first=Ryan |title=David Chariandy, Lindsay Wong among 15 authors longlisted for Canada Reads 2019 |url=https://quillandquire.com/omni/david-chariandy-lindsay-wong-among-15-authors-longlisted-for-canada-reads-2019/ |date=January 10, 2019 |access-date=December 12, 2024 |magazine=] |issn=0033-6491}}</ref> <ref name=Porter>{{Cite magazine |last=Porter |first=Ryan |title=David Chariandy, Lindsay Wong among 15 authors longlisted for Canada Reads 2019 |url=https://quillandquire.com/omni/david-chariandy-lindsay-wong-among-15-authors-longlisted-for-canada-reads-2019/ |date=January 10, 2019 |access-date=December 12, 2024 |magazine=] |issn=0033-6491}}</ref>

<ref name=Lea>{{cite news |last=Lea |first=Richard |date=March 30, 2017 |access-date=December 26, 2024 |title=Elan Mastai: 'I wrote about my mother's death, but I used time machines to do it' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/mar/30/elan-mastai-all-our-wrong-tomorrows-interview |newspaper=] |location=London |issn=1756-3224}}</ref>

<ref name=Greene>{{cite web |last=Greene |first=Jamie |date=March 30, 2017 |access-date=December 26, 2024 |title='All Our Wrong Todays': A GeekDad Q&A with Elan Mastai |url=https://geekdad.com/2017/03/all-our-wrong-todays-elan-mastai/ |website=]}}</ref>

<ref name=White>{{cite web |last=White |first=Peter |date=January 27, 2021 |access-date=December 26, 2024 |title=Seth MacFarlane & Amy Pascal Developing TV Adaptation Of Novel 'All Our Wrong Todays' For Peacock |url=https://deadline.com/2021/01/seth-macfarlane-amy-pascal-tv-adaptation-all-our-wrong-todays-peacock-1234681217/ |website=]}}</ref>

<ref name=Otterson>{{cite magazine |last=Otterson |first=Joe |date=January 27, 2021 |access-date=December 26, 2024 |title=Seth MacFarlane to Produce Adaptation of Elan Mastai Novel 'All Our Wrong Todays' at Peacock |url=https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/seth-macfarlane-elan-matasi-all-our-wrong-todays-peacock-1234893435/ |magazine=] |location=Los Angeles, California |issn=0042-2738}}</ref>

<ref name=Burt-interview>{{cite web |last=Burt |first=Kayti |date=March 16, 2018 |access-date=December 30, 2024 |title=Den of Geek Book Club Interview: Elan Mastai on All Our Wrong Todays |url=https://www.denofgeek.com/books/den-of-geek-book-club-interview-elan-mastai-on-all-our-wrong-todays/ |website=]}}</ref>

<ref name=Deahl>{{cite magazine |last=Deahl |first=Rachel |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/international/Frankfurt-Book-Fair/article/68292-screenwriter-s-debut-goes-for-seven-figures-pre-frankfurt.html |title=Frankfurt Book Fair 2015: Screenwriter's Debut Fetches Seven Figures |magazine=] |issn=0000-0019 |date=October 8, 2015 |access-date=December 30, 2024}}</ref>

<ref name=Gamerman>{{cite news |last=Gamerman |first=Ellen |title=Dystopia Infuses 'All Our Wrong Todays'; Screenwriter Elan Mastai's novel, 'All Our Wrong Todays,' contrasts a sleek, space-age future with a bleak, familiar world |newspaper=] |location=New York City |date=February 1, 2017 |issn=1042-9840 |id={{ProQuest|1863754018}}}}</ref>


}} }}
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Latest revision as of 15:27, 30 December 2024

2017 novel by Elan Mastai

All Our Wrong Todays
First US edition cover
AuthorElan Mastai
LanguageEnglish
GenreScience fiction
Publisher
Publication dateFebruary 7, 2017
Publication place
  • United States
  • Canada
Media typeHardback
Pages
  • 373 (US)
  • 384 (CA)
AwardPrix Bob Morane [fr]
ISBN978-1-101-98513-7 (US)
978-0-385-68684-6 (CA)

All Our Wrong Todays is a 2017 science fiction novel by Canadian screenwriter Elan Mastai. It is Mastai's debut novel and was first published in February 2017 in the United States by Dutton, in Canada by Doubleday Canada, and in the United Kingdom in March 2017 by Michael Joseph. The novel is about a man from a utopia in an alternate reality who finds himself stuck in our reality after a time travel accident.

All Our Wrong Todays was nominated for the 2018 Sidewise Award for Alternate History, and the 2018 Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic. It was also longlisted for the 2019 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Canada Reads competition. The book has been translated into 24 languages, including French by Jean Bonnefoy as Tous nos contretemps, published by Bragelonne in September 2017, and German by Rainer Schmidt as Die beste meiner Welten, published by Goldmann in April 2018. Tous nos contretemps won the 2018 Prix Bob Morane [fr] for Best Foreign Novel.

Background

Mastai started writing at 26 after his mother died. He said she had motivated him to make the most of the time he had, and to stop erecting barriers that prevented him from pursuing his goals. "I started writing because of that. I started going from wanting to be a writer to actually writing." Mastai worked in the Hollywood film industry for a decade writing screenplays for several films, including Alone in the Dark, The Samaritan and The F Word (also released as What If). Then he began working on a story about a man struck in an alternate reality, and realized that it was a novel, not a screenplay. Mastai saw this as a new challenge, and an opportunity to write about his mother. "I had never really written too much about that experience of losing my mom. I didn’t want to write some sort of grim and depressing memoir about it either … So on one level I was writing about my mother’s death, but I used time machines ... to do it." Writing All Our Wrong Todays was also an opportunity for Mastai to free himself from the limitations of screenplays, and to experiment.

Some of the ideas for All Our Wrong Todays came from Mastai's grandfather. Mastai explained that his grandfather had an extensive collection of 1950s and 1960s science fiction magazines with "wild, weird stories and ... garishly painted covers of robots and rocket ships, mad scientists and nifty technology." As a youngster, Mastai often wondered why the future dreamt up by those artists and writers was not happening. Years later, the premise for the novel occurred to him: what if that future did happen, but Tom Barren travelled back in time and wiped it out? Mastai started writing All Our Wrong Todays in July 2014. He secured a $1.25 million book deal with US publisher, Dutton in 2015, and finished writing the novel in May 2016.

Plot summary

Tom Barren wakes up in 2016 in a reality that is not his own. He comes from an alternate reality where, thanks to Lionel Goettreider's 1965 invention of the Goettreider Engine, the world has unlimited free energy. In 2016, Tom's world became a techno-utopia with jet packs, hovercars and space colonization. Tom's domineering father, Victor Barren invents the time machine and wants to send someone back to 1965 to witness Lionel turning on his engine. Penelope Weschler, a no-nonsense high flyer, is chosen to be the first "chrononaut", and Tom is named her understudy. But Tom falls in love with Penelope and accidentally gets her pregnant, which disqualifies her from the program. Victor cancels the time travel experiment and Penelope kills herself. A distraught Tom secretly commandeers the time machine and sends himself back to 1965, where he watches Lionel turn his machine on. But things go wrong with the time machine's cloaking device, and Tom materializes in the room. A startled Lionel turns his engine off again, and this erases Tom's utopian timeline and he finds himself in 2016 in our present-day technologically-stunted realty.

In this timeline, Tom is John, a successful architect. His father is kind and understanding, his mother (who had died in Tom's alternate reality) is alive, and he has a sister. Tom also meets and falls in love with Penny, a mild-mannered book store owner. Tom/John tries to convince Penny and his family that this reality is "wrong", but they do not believe him. Tom realizes that the only way to prove his story is to track down Lionel Goettreider. Tom finds out that after the Goettreider Engine mishap in 1965, Lionel became a recluse and moved to Hong Kong, taking his engine with him. He discovers that Lionel secretly turned the engine back on again, but did not show it to the world. Tom also learns that Lionel has invented his own time machine, and wants to send Tom back to 1965 to correct the mistake Tom made and restore the timeline.

Critical reception

In a review in Locus magazine, American science fiction author Paul Di Filippo called All Our Wrong Todays "a great and exceptional find". He said that for a mainstream writer to choose science fiction for his debut novel, Mastai has proved himself to be quite capable. Di Filippo said Mastai handles the genre with "playful fluency" and "does not make a single misstep with his speculations or language". The protagonist's admiration of Kurt Vonnegut early in the book led Di Filippo to state, "its punchy, demotic, self-denigrating prose ... and its general fascination with the ways humans can screw up" makes All Our Wrong Todays "pure Vonnegut". Di Filippo added that the book's "elaborate paradoxes and causal loops that any great time travel novel must offer" puts it alongside "classics such as Heinlei's By His Bootstraps".

Kayti Burt called All Our Wrong Todays "a fun, fast-paced, thought-provoking ride". In a review of the book at Den of Geek Burt wrote that it has some "grand insightful things" to say about our reality and the possible alternates. She found the structure of the book "unusual" for a time travel story: it is a science fiction novel presented as a "memoir" with a literary feel that makes it closer to Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife than Wells's Time Machine. Burt also found the book clever in the way it describes our reality as the "wrong" one, and how the protagonist is an unreliable narrator who is "often unlikable ... self-indulgent thoughtless".

American novelist Keith Donohue described All Our Wrong Todays as a "dazzling and complex novel". In a review in The Washington Post, he said the book has an "ingenuous plot" that winds its way through alternate realities, and tackles the familiar problems of time travel "in fascinating new ways". Donohue added that readers who sometimes wish they could turn back the clock may find comfort "in the masochistic pleasures of this trippy and ultimately touching novel."

Reviewing All Our Wrong Todays in Quill & Quire, August C. Bourré wrote that much of the book is taken up by Tom reminiscing the world he has lost, and Mastai uses Tom's nostalgia to examine both his world and the "wrong" world he finds himself stuck in. Bourré said that as the book progresses, Mastai's "metaphors or insights more sophisticated than the chatty tone in which the novel is narrated", but felt it would have been better to have them start at the beginning. Bourré concluded that this "is a clever book with a lot of potential", but complained that some of the Mastai's philosophizing tends to get "in his own way prevents the full realization of that potential."

Adaptation

All Our Wrong Todays was published in February 2017, and a month later, Paramount Pictures and Amy Pascal secured the screen rights to the book for $1.25 million. Mastai signed a contract with Paramount to write the screenplay for a potential film, and he submitted a draft before the book tour began in March 2017.

In January 2021, Peacock announced that Seth MacFarlane and Pascal will produce an adaptation of All Our Wrong Todays for a TV series. Mastai will write the script.

References

  1. "Sidewise Awards 2018". Science Fiction Awards Database. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  2. "2018 Sunburst Awards Longlist". Locus. June 11, 2018. ISSN 0047-4959. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  3. Porter, Ryan (January 10, 2019). "David Chariandy, Lindsay Wong among 15 authors longlisted for Canada Reads 2019". Quill & Quire. ISSN 0033-6491. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  4. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (January 27, 2021). "Seth MacFarlane Adapting 'All Our Wrong Todays' for Peacock". The Hollywood Reporter. ISSN 0018-3660. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  5. "Tous nos contretemps". Internet Speculative Fiction Database. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  6. "Die beste meiner Welten". Internet Speculative Fiction Database. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  7. "2018 Prix Bob Morane". Locus. March 13, 2018. ISSN 0047-4959. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  8. ^ Lea, Richard (March 30, 2017). "Elan Mastai: 'I wrote about my mother's death, but I used time machines to do it'". The Guardian. London. ISSN 1756-3224. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
  9. ^ Burt, Kayti (March 16, 2018). "Den of Geek Book Club Interview: Elan Mastai on All Our Wrong Todays". Den of Geek. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  10. Gamerman, Ellen (February 1, 2017). "Dystopia Infuses 'All Our Wrong Todays'; Screenwriter Elan Mastai's novel, 'All Our Wrong Todays,' contrasts a sleek, space-age future with a bleak, familiar world". The Wall Street Journal. New York City. ISSN 1042-9840. ProQuest 1863754018.
  11. Deahl, Rachel (October 8, 2015). "Frankfurt Book Fair 2015: Screenwriter's Debut Fetches Seven Figures". Publishers Weekly. ISSN 0000-0019. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  12. ^ Di Filippo, Paul (February 16, 2017). "Paul Di Filippo reviews Elan Mastai". Locus. ISSN 0047-4959. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  13. ^ Burt, Kayti (February 20, 2018). "All Our Wrong Todays Review". Den of Geek. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  14. ^ Donohue, Keith (February 16, 2017). "'All Our Wrong Todays', by Elan Mastai". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on February 17, 2017. Retrieved December 10, 2024.
  15. ^ Bourré, August C. (February 9, 2017). "All Our Wrong Todays". Quill & Quire. ISSN 0033-6491. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  16. Greene, Jamie (March 30, 2017). "'All Our Wrong Todays': A GeekDad Q&A with Elan Mastai". GeekDad. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
  17. White, Peter (January 27, 2021). "Seth MacFarlane & Amy Pascal Developing TV Adaptation Of Novel 'All Our Wrong Todays' For Peacock". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
  18. Otterson, Joe (January 27, 2021). "Seth MacFarlane to Produce Adaptation of Elan Mastai Novel 'All Our Wrong Todays' at Peacock". Variety. Los Angeles, California. ISSN 0042-2738. Retrieved December 26, 2024.

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