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Fifty in Reverse
From TV personality and radio host Bill Flanagan comes a highly entertaining time-traveling adventure novel about how the past never gives up its hold on the present and how even 65-year-olds are still kids at heart.
If you had the chance to live your life over again, knowing everything that you know now, would you take it? Would you still take it if it meant losing everything you have today? Would a second chance to correct every mistake and missed opportunity be worth giving up the world you know and the life you have built? In Fifty in Reverse, 15-year-old Peter Wyatt does just that.
In the spring of 1970, Harvard psychologist Terry Canyon is introduced to Peter, a quiet kid from a wealthy family who has been suspended from ninth grade for stripping off his clothes in Algebra class. When Terry asks Peter why he did it, the boy explains that he was trying to “shock myself awake.� It turns out that Peter believes he is a 65-year-old man who went to sleep in his home in New York in the year 2020 and woke up in his childhood bedroom fifty years earlier.
Hilariously depicting Peter’s attempts to fit in as a 15-year-old in 1970 and to cope with the tedium, foolishness, and sexual temptations of high school as he tries to retain the sense of himself as a 65-year-old man, Fifty in Reverse is a thought-provoking and enlightening novel about second chances and appreciating the life you have today.
If you had the chance to live your life over again, knowing everything that you know now, would you take it? Would you still take it if it meant losing everything you have today? Would a second chance to correct every mistake and missed opportunity be worth giving up the world you know and the life you have built? In Fifty in Reverse, 15-year-old Peter Wyatt does just that.
In the spring of 1970, Harvard psychologist Terry Canyon is introduced to Peter, a quiet kid from a wealthy family who has been suspended from ninth grade for stripping off his clothes in Algebra class. When Terry asks Peter why he did it, the boy explains that he was trying to “shock myself awake.� It turns out that Peter believes he is a 65-year-old man who went to sleep in his home in New York in the year 2020 and woke up in his childhood bedroom fifty years earlier.
Hilariously depicting Peter’s attempts to fit in as a 15-year-old in 1970 and to cope with the tedium, foolishness, and sexual temptations of high school as he tries to retain the sense of himself as a 65-year-old man, Fifty in Reverse is a thought-provoking and enlightening novel about second chances and appreciating the life you have today.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 204 reviews
May 20, 2021
Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what the hell happened.
This was such an entertaining read, both humorous and thought provoking. It’s a fresh take on ‘if you had your life to live over…� and takes the trope to sometimes absurdly funny territory while still managing to offer a good dose of sentimentality and mind-bending thoughts about the nature of time.
And if you’re a music fan (or the right age), you’ll really enjoy the references to the hits (and misses) of the 70’s. Imagine playing Neil Young’s Ohio for a school assembly or introducing your friends to Springsteen’s Born to Run and getting credit for writing both, among others. I loved that the author, a radio personality, poked fun at the music industry through the character of a cringey music ‘Impresario� proclaiming Afternoon Delight as a marvel.
Overall, a fun little time travel story that left me with some interesting thoughts to ponder. I only wish it had been a little bit longer. Yes, that’s right, I wanted a longer story and I’m usually the one calling for the editor. So there’s that.
This was such an entertaining read, both humorous and thought provoking. It’s a fresh take on ‘if you had your life to live over…� and takes the trope to sometimes absurdly funny territory while still managing to offer a good dose of sentimentality and mind-bending thoughts about the nature of time.
And if you’re a music fan (or the right age), you’ll really enjoy the references to the hits (and misses) of the 70’s. Imagine playing Neil Young’s Ohio for a school assembly or introducing your friends to Springsteen’s Born to Run and getting credit for writing both, among others. I loved that the author, a radio personality, poked fun at the music industry through the character of a cringey music ‘Impresario� proclaiming Afternoon Delight as a marvel.
Overall, a fun little time travel story that left me with some interesting thoughts to ponder. I only wish it had been a little bit longer. Yes, that’s right, I wanted a longer story and I’m usually the one calling for the editor. So there’s that.
September 11, 2020
Old-time music fans are sure to love reminiscing on the tunes mentioned within. I was inspired by the text to turn on the radio, searching for some oldies to listen to. (Smokin' In The Boys Room!) While this story was an alright read for me, anyone in their 50's or from the genre of cassette tapes, records, and record players, I could see gravitating towards this, and loving and cherishing it.
Writing- Short sentences
� Can easily be read in a day or two
Storyline- Unique, Short
� An additional 100 pages would really amplify this
Funny pop culture references-
"Is Alexa your wife?" "No. My wife is Janice. Alexa turns the lights on." 😂
I had no idea the ARC cover portrayed a record and cassette tape on the front until pretty far along into the story. I wasn't sure what those items were at first. From the book blurb description on the back, I had no idea music would be a big theme, but it makes sense seeing the cover. I think an updated book blurb would help readers of Classic Rock N' Roll or music in general, find this title easier, giving a better indication of what this story is really about. It's so much more than a kid stripping down in algebra class. I think an entirely new description would really help this story along.
I liked the perspective the book gave on second chances. That part struck my heart in an unusual way. I don't usually like how second chances are done or given out, this was clever and sweet.
I enjoyed some of the quirky characters, while others, I couldn't bring myself to agree with at all.�"Blend in don't draw attention to yourself." The MC'S mother has some parenting techniques that I definitely don't agree with. She basically says to be like everyone else and only tell those you love, what you really think, that way adversity won't hurt so much. I thought this was extremely harmful to mental health and exactly what is wrong with society today. The suppression! Ugh, my heart. There were quite a few items in the book that were well-intended but I found odd. (Just my experience with it... Could be the author's own experience... To each their own, I say.) 😂
The characters that I resonated most with were wild, out there, sporadic, and didn't have much of a backstory. I wanted more insight into their lives. I felt a pull but there was no info. That's why I say this story could use some juicing up, adding an additional 100 pages would be most helpful and fun, I think. Give me some more details! The storyline is really unique, I liked it. I just wish the balance between the beginning and the end was more aligned. Why do endings have to wrap everything up so quickly after intricately weaving such a picture? Where are my sweet details the beginning shares? Why cut me short!? I'll never understand this formula. Therefore, this was an alright read for me.
Much gratitude to the ŷ Giveaway Program compliments of Tiller Press for the paperback ARC I won. (2020) I was under no obligation to write a review, my honest opinion is freely given. The quote I chose may not reflect the final print, as the author may have made changes prior to final publishing. The ARC still had some unfinished editing and typos that needed correction yet.
Writing- Short sentences
� Can easily be read in a day or two
Storyline- Unique, Short
� An additional 100 pages would really amplify this
Funny pop culture references-
"Is Alexa your wife?" "No. My wife is Janice. Alexa turns the lights on." 😂
I had no idea the ARC cover portrayed a record and cassette tape on the front until pretty far along into the story. I wasn't sure what those items were at first. From the book blurb description on the back, I had no idea music would be a big theme, but it makes sense seeing the cover. I think an updated book blurb would help readers of Classic Rock N' Roll or music in general, find this title easier, giving a better indication of what this story is really about. It's so much more than a kid stripping down in algebra class. I think an entirely new description would really help this story along.
I liked the perspective the book gave on second chances. That part struck my heart in an unusual way. I don't usually like how second chances are done or given out, this was clever and sweet.
I enjoyed some of the quirky characters, while others, I couldn't bring myself to agree with at all.�"Blend in don't draw attention to yourself." The MC'S mother has some parenting techniques that I definitely don't agree with. She basically says to be like everyone else and only tell those you love, what you really think, that way adversity won't hurt so much. I thought this was extremely harmful to mental health and exactly what is wrong with society today. The suppression! Ugh, my heart. There were quite a few items in the book that were well-intended but I found odd. (Just my experience with it... Could be the author's own experience... To each their own, I say.) 😂
The characters that I resonated most with were wild, out there, sporadic, and didn't have much of a backstory. I wanted more insight into their lives. I felt a pull but there was no info. That's why I say this story could use some juicing up, adding an additional 100 pages would be most helpful and fun, I think. Give me some more details! The storyline is really unique, I liked it. I just wish the balance between the beginning and the end was more aligned. Why do endings have to wrap everything up so quickly after intricately weaving such a picture? Where are my sweet details the beginning shares? Why cut me short!? I'll never understand this formula. Therefore, this was an alright read for me.
Much gratitude to the ŷ Giveaway Program compliments of Tiller Press for the paperback ARC I won. (2020) I was under no obligation to write a review, my honest opinion is freely given. The quote I chose may not reflect the final print, as the author may have made changes prior to final publishing. The ARC still had some unfinished editing and typos that needed correction yet.
May 12, 2020
Oh nice, I’m the first to review this book. Good. I mean, I liked the book and have mostly good things to say about it. Didn't love it, it kind of didn't have that wow factor, but definitely liked it. So let’s have it…the author is apparently a famous radio and tv personality, who has been in entertainment business for ages. Which is to say one has every right to expect an entertaining story out of him and one does get one. Fifty in reverse is literally the direction the book’s protagonist’s life takes. One day a perfectly normal 15 year old boy wakes up claiming to be his 65 year old self who has seemingly travelled back in time and is now stuck being a kid again. Quite a pickle. To have foregone an entire life, a 30 year old marriage, three kids, a long career in radio, all to end up a hormonal teen in 1970. Needless to say, he isn’t thrilled. And the people around him are positively bewildered. The family hires a psychologist to try to figure out their suddenly very odd kid. The psychologist does his best, which subsequently results in some of the more profound discussions in the novel, when both of them are trying to figure out if this is a delusion, if it’s real, and what might be the ramifications of both. You’d think there’d be a lot of laughs on account of trying to fit it and juggle the two mentalities (65 and 15 year olds), but it’s relatively serious. Which is to say, every attempt was made at a serious imagining of what that sort of switch might result in, the psychology of it all. So the kid becomes more popular at school, first as a sort of class freak and later as a budding musician on account of knowing all the future hit songs (which are treated with hilarious dismissiveness by a music producer), but…seriously, that’s the third time I’m encountering that premise. Once in an indie science fiction novel, once in an appallingly cheaply sentimental Yesterday movie and now this. Enough already maybe? But then there’s the rest of the novel, where the kid has to fend off advance of a girl (for him, terribly underage at almost 15), have serious talks with his parents and so on, those are legitimately interesting, because the author utilizes as much plausibility as possible in a highly unusual scenario. Through its various characters, (the shrink, the mother, the kid himself) the novel does a lot of very credible contemplating and musing on the nature of time and our place in it. And in the end we are given to understand enough mechanics of behind the scenes to figure out how the reverse drive occurred, though it is ever so slightly a vague, abrupt and easy of a resolution. At any rate, it’s a very quick trip for a reader, gotta love a 200 page novel. And it does entertain plenty. There’s a heavy moral throughout about living in the now and enjoying your present without obsessing about the future. Pretty timely if you think about for a world where future has been, well, if not cancelled, then paused indefinitely. This book was a pretty enjoyable light diversion. A time traveling book without the actual time traveling, which is easier on the brain. Thanks Netgalley.
August 22, 2020
For being a comedic novel about a guy who goes back in time to high school in the 70's and starts a band, this is a surprisingly deep and sentimental book! It's a quick read and a fun one, so didn't expect to be crying at the end and yet there I was. Have to say I appreciate a book that touches on serious life questions without taking itself too seriously. Definitely recommend :)
March 25, 2021
3.5 stars. This was a very fast and compelling read about a 65 year old man waking up as his 15 year old self in 1970s and at one point getting naked in class to "wake" him self up. I enjoyed this book for the most part and thought I would give it at least 4 stars, but I feel like there was to many loose ends and a lot of unanswered questions, so the end didn't feel satisfing.
May 9, 2020
In 2020, Peter Wyatt is 65 years old, happily married, with three grown children. Then he wakes up back in his 15-year-old body in 1970. Is he mad, in a coma, or back in time?
I raced through this book. Flanagan has an engaging style, and an ear for entertaining (if not always realistic) dialogue. Much of the opening is framed in conversations between Peter and his new therapist, Terry Canyon, who I expected to dislike -- he rides a motorcycle and studied under Timothy Leary! -- but who Flanagan succeeds in making oddly endearing. These early chapters, where Peter and Terry are trying to figure out the logic behind Peter's situation -- Peter practically and Terry, not believing but trying to help Peter -- are the best in the book. Through them, Flanagan lofts into the air a series of moral quandaries: should Peter fight to preserve the future he knows, in which he was personally happy, or try to change the world for the better? Can he and should he try to prevent major disasters? (He's blindsided early on by Kent State.) Should he proceed like a 65-year-old trapped in a 15-year-old's body, or like a 15-year-old who's had a glimpse 50 years into the future?
Unfortunately, having raised these fascinating, complicated questions, Flanagan kind of just leaves them hanging there. While never losing its fast pace or even parts of its poignancy, the book then turns down a, to me, far less interesting road, in which Peter -- who in the future married a musician and worked for a company like Spotify -- decides to finally take his stab at musical glory . . . by stealing songs written by famous artists of the decades to come. Even this diversion into the plot of the movie Yesterday doesn't really come to anything, or have any consequences, as Peter soon discovers that the 1970 he's come back to is . To me, this revelation robbed the book of much of its urgency and moral weight. I was still touched by some of the bridge building that occurs between Peter and his parents (and between Peter and his poor lonely guidance counselor -- ), but for a book about lost chances, I feel like this novel misses out on a lot more complex but more interesting books it could have been. I still enjoyed it, but as a diversion, nothing more.
I raced through this book. Flanagan has an engaging style, and an ear for entertaining (if not always realistic) dialogue. Much of the opening is framed in conversations between Peter and his new therapist, Terry Canyon, who I expected to dislike -- he rides a motorcycle and studied under Timothy Leary! -- but who Flanagan succeeds in making oddly endearing. These early chapters, where Peter and Terry are trying to figure out the logic behind Peter's situation -- Peter practically and Terry, not believing but trying to help Peter -- are the best in the book. Through them, Flanagan lofts into the air a series of moral quandaries: should Peter fight to preserve the future he knows, in which he was personally happy, or try to change the world for the better? Can he and should he try to prevent major disasters? (He's blindsided early on by Kent State.) Should he proceed like a 65-year-old trapped in a 15-year-old's body, or like a 15-year-old who's had a glimpse 50 years into the future?
Unfortunately, having raised these fascinating, complicated questions, Flanagan kind of just leaves them hanging there. While never losing its fast pace or even parts of its poignancy, the book then turns down a, to me, far less interesting road, in which Peter -- who in the future married a musician and worked for a company like Spotify -- decides to finally take his stab at musical glory . . . by stealing songs written by famous artists of the decades to come. Even this diversion into the plot of the movie Yesterday doesn't really come to anything, or have any consequences, as Peter soon discovers that the 1970 he's come back to is . To me, this revelation robbed the book of much of its urgency and moral weight. I was still touched by some of the bridge building that occurs between Peter and his parents (and between Peter and his poor lonely guidance counselor -- ), but for a book about lost chances, I feel like this novel misses out on a lot more complex but more interesting books it could have been. I still enjoyed it, but as a diversion, nothing more.
November 1, 2021
Peter Wyatt wakes up one morning in his 14 year old body, having left behind a life of a 60 year old with a wife, grown children and everything an adult could desire. But no one believes that he has travelled back in time and he struggles to figure out both how he ended up here and how he can return.
He decides that, if he is to live this life over, he may as well live well so he starts playing the music of famous songs from his youth before they're released, figuring that either he will wake up from this dream or he will make a fortune in this new rendition of his life.
Much of the book is taken with trying to convince others that he is an adult and the rest is trying to convince himself that he is sane.
Cute and fun and silly but still a thoughtful read. What would you do if you were 14 again but still held the experience of your pre-existing life?
He decides that, if he is to live this life over, he may as well live well so he starts playing the music of famous songs from his youth before they're released, figuring that either he will wake up from this dream or he will make a fortune in this new rendition of his life.
Much of the book is taken with trying to convince others that he is an adult and the rest is trying to convince himself that he is sane.
Cute and fun and silly but still a thoughtful read. What would you do if you were 14 again but still held the experience of your pre-existing life?
November 16, 2021
This is a light take on the perennial theme of appreciating one’s life. A 65 year old man travels back in time to enter his 15 year old body in 1970. At first he thinks he is in a dream from which he can’t seem to awaken. But the more he is convinced that some strange act of time travel has occurred, the more he struggles to return to his wife and adult kids in 2020. I expected more ironic humor about observing high school culture from an adult perspective, but the humor was more rooted in his personal situation.
August 25, 2020
This was such a fast read. It was also my favorite book I've read in the pandemic. I had no idea how much I needed this story right now about what we can control and what we can't, about the people in our past and how we can choose them or choose the moment. I'm recommending this to everyone.
December 4, 2020
As a 64-year old woman about to turn 65 in a few weeks, I was compelled to read this novel when an ad for it was fed to me on Facebook (for obvious reasons). Those algorithms are really kind of scary! The concept: a 65-year old man in 2020 wakes up in the body of himself as a 15-year old boy in 1970. His 1970 life is for the most part exactly as he remembered. Same parents, school, siblings and friends. Yet there are some quirky exceptions, which are never explained —happenings in the Vietnam War, etc). So is this all a delusion of a young boy? Is he dying as a 65-year old man and this is simply the proverbial life flashing before him at the end? Or has he died and this is a unique version of reincarnation? These concept are all thrown out to us but never really satisfactorily resolved.
It is a very quick read and I enjoyed much of it—while I was ultimately disappointed. As others have said here, it could have been so much more. The best of the book were the 15-year old’s conversations with the shrink in 1970. The boy talks about Alexa and smart phones and AIDS in a 1970’s world. This and and the boy’s mother’s theories on what is happening are fascinating. BUT, the whole “Yesterday� “Back to the Future� trope about knowing hit songs before they are written and teaching them to a band with the school “hoods� is a big yawn. Been there, done that—and this added nothing Although, the descriptions of HS kids in the 70’s was dead on. Probably because, like me, the author was a HS kid in the 1970’s. It made me remember types of people and trends that I hadn’t thought about since then. Eg. Most high schools at that time had Ecology Clubs, just like in this book, which was a precursor to climate change concerns. At my school it was composed of kids who smoked weed (then grass) and considered themselves latter day hippies (we were too late for the first wave hippiedom of the 60’s). I have to believe this would not resonate with younger readers but for us over-60’s it was a bit like the boy’s journey—an interesting trip back to a long forgotten past.
The book probes fascinating and poignant themes such as how fast life goes by, how we are formed by a past we may not even recall too well� and how it feels to be in the third act of life when in many ways you feel like it has all just begun. For younger readers I can tell you that it is hard to think of yourself as the age of your grandparents when inside there is still that rebellious teenager. Youth culture was so dominant for us Boomers (our music, our rebellion, the drugs, the fight against the conformity of prior generations) that it does seem like a dream or delusion to be old. The author got all of that so very right. But there was so much left that needed to go deeper. If the author (who was a big music executive, MTV, etc) had cut out all the time wasted on the derivative “music before its time� stuff, he could have gone deeper into these themes and it could have been a much more satisfying and complete book.
It is a very quick read and I enjoyed much of it—while I was ultimately disappointed. As others have said here, it could have been so much more. The best of the book were the 15-year old’s conversations with the shrink in 1970. The boy talks about Alexa and smart phones and AIDS in a 1970’s world. This and and the boy’s mother’s theories on what is happening are fascinating. BUT, the whole “Yesterday� “Back to the Future� trope about knowing hit songs before they are written and teaching them to a band with the school “hoods� is a big yawn. Been there, done that—and this added nothing Although, the descriptions of HS kids in the 70’s was dead on. Probably because, like me, the author was a HS kid in the 1970’s. It made me remember types of people and trends that I hadn’t thought about since then. Eg. Most high schools at that time had Ecology Clubs, just like in this book, which was a precursor to climate change concerns. At my school it was composed of kids who smoked weed (then grass) and considered themselves latter day hippies (we were too late for the first wave hippiedom of the 60’s). I have to believe this would not resonate with younger readers but for us over-60’s it was a bit like the boy’s journey—an interesting trip back to a long forgotten past.
The book probes fascinating and poignant themes such as how fast life goes by, how we are formed by a past we may not even recall too well� and how it feels to be in the third act of life when in many ways you feel like it has all just begun. For younger readers I can tell you that it is hard to think of yourself as the age of your grandparents when inside there is still that rebellious teenager. Youth culture was so dominant for us Boomers (our music, our rebellion, the drugs, the fight against the conformity of prior generations) that it does seem like a dream or delusion to be old. The author got all of that so very right. But there was so much left that needed to go deeper. If the author (who was a big music executive, MTV, etc) had cut out all the time wasted on the derivative “music before its time� stuff, he could have gone deeper into these themes and it could have been a much more satisfying and complete book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 6, 2022
I loved this story of a 65-year-0ld man living in 2020 believing that he has been transported back in time to himself as a 15-year-old in 1970! It is a real trip for the reader! This is a witty, clever, funny tale with a 65-year-old's remarks coming out of a teenager's mouth, which are especially amusing when the comments are made about events that have happened 50 years in the future! But however entertaining and humorous this adventure is, the author also includes some very poignant observations about youth, life, and aging.
I highly recommend this short, fun read that you can get through in one sitting. I enjoyed it a lot!
I highly recommend this short, fun read that you can get through in one sitting. I enjoyed it a lot!
December 25, 2021
SPOILERS Ahead!!!!
Lord, Lord, Lord.....
So up until the last few pages, I was going to give this a 4 or even a 5 star rating.
But man, for me did it NOT stick the landing. :(
Spring 1970. 15 year old Peter Wyatt is seeing a Harvard Psychiatrist, Terry Canyon.
Peter took all his clothes off in Algebra class..when asked why, we learn Peter is convinced he is really 65 years old, in the year 2020 and for some reason is back in his 15 year-old body. (He had hoped the act of stripping in class would shock him awake)
As he is questioned about the future, we the reader learn Peter really is from 2020.
The talks with Terry are well done.
At first, Peter's main goal is to not mess up his future so that his life with his wife and kids will be secure. Peter loves his wife and kids(and that makes the ending, or lack there of so frustrating.)
When Peter sees changes in the world....like The Beatles getting back together and releasing a new album...The Vietnam War ending in 1970 and the U.S. 'winning', Nelson Rockefeller dying in a plane crash..
Peter begins to believe maybe this is all a delusion....and he joins a classmate's rock band and 'writes' songs that will become famous in future decades....
This part kind of lost me, but it goes no where and we get on with the story.
Thru his continued talks with Terry, Peter remembers he was fighting cancer in 2020. And his last memory is a cancer treatment with Let It Be playing and him remembering his teen years...
Then Peter finds proof that his future wife is in fact alive in this 1970. (Something he'd given up on)
Here the book rushes to it's unsatisfactory conclusion.
Peter does something that could alter his future with his wife.
But we never find out if it does.
And we never find out why certain Historical events play out differently.
Great book for the most part.
Huge letdown for me on the ending.
Lord, Lord, Lord.....
So up until the last few pages, I was going to give this a 4 or even a 5 star rating.
But man, for me did it NOT stick the landing. :(
Spring 1970. 15 year old Peter Wyatt is seeing a Harvard Psychiatrist, Terry Canyon.
Peter took all his clothes off in Algebra class..when asked why, we learn Peter is convinced he is really 65 years old, in the year 2020 and for some reason is back in his 15 year-old body. (He had hoped the act of stripping in class would shock him awake)
As he is questioned about the future, we the reader learn Peter really is from 2020.
The talks with Terry are well done.
At first, Peter's main goal is to not mess up his future so that his life with his wife and kids will be secure. Peter loves his wife and kids(and that makes the ending, or lack there of so frustrating.)
When Peter sees changes in the world....like The Beatles getting back together and releasing a new album...The Vietnam War ending in 1970 and the U.S. 'winning', Nelson Rockefeller dying in a plane crash..
Peter begins to believe maybe this is all a delusion....and he joins a classmate's rock band and 'writes' songs that will become famous in future decades....
This part kind of lost me, but it goes no where and we get on with the story.
Thru his continued talks with Terry, Peter remembers he was fighting cancer in 2020. And his last memory is a cancer treatment with Let It Be playing and him remembering his teen years...
Then Peter finds proof that his future wife is in fact alive in this 1970. (Something he'd given up on)
Here the book rushes to it's unsatisfactory conclusion.
Peter does something that could alter his future with his wife.
But we never find out if it does.
And we never find out why certain Historical events play out differently.
Great book for the most part.
Huge letdown for me on the ending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 1, 2020
I really liked this time travel (Hiccup? Blip?) story about Peter, a 65-year-old man who wakes up one day to find it's 1970, he's 15, and back in high school. But he remembers everything from his life and misses his wife and kids and his life in 2020.
After trying to time-jump by doing something completely disruptive and failing, Pete decides to accept his new reality and make the most of his do-over life. And then history starts to rewrite itself. The Beatles don't break up. The Viet Nam war ends years ahead of time. And Pete has to work hard to remember all the details of his 65-year-old self.
So, is he crazy? Has he gotten a glimpse of the future or a second chance at the past? This book will keep you guessing while always pulling for Peter. Lots of nods to 1970 history and reimagining how things could have gone.
My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.
After trying to time-jump by doing something completely disruptive and failing, Pete decides to accept his new reality and make the most of his do-over life. And then history starts to rewrite itself. The Beatles don't break up. The Viet Nam war ends years ahead of time. And Pete has to work hard to remember all the details of his 65-year-old self.
So, is he crazy? Has he gotten a glimpse of the future or a second chance at the past? This book will keep you guessing while always pulling for Peter. Lots of nods to 1970 history and reimagining how things could have gone.
My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.
December 28, 2023
I picked this novel up randomly at a used book sale. I LOVED IT. The main character, Peter wakes up one day thinking that he has been transported back to himself at age 15. He most recently recalls being 65 years old and having a wife and children. At first he enjoys seeing his parents alive again, but soon, he is desperate to get back to his "real" life - in 2020.
Author Bill Flanagan handles this bizarre premise with delicate sophistication. The book touches on themes of life, death, consciousness, and more. At just under 200 pages, it's a quick read (I read it in less than 24 hours) and a fully engrossing one. I'm guessing that it will resonate for others of my generation or close to it - if you were born somewhere between 1955 and 1975, I would highly recommend this book.
Author Bill Flanagan handles this bizarre premise with delicate sophistication. The book touches on themes of life, death, consciousness, and more. At just under 200 pages, it's a quick read (I read it in less than 24 hours) and a fully engrossing one. I'm guessing that it will resonate for others of my generation or close to it - if you were born somewhere between 1955 and 1975, I would highly recommend this book.
May 27, 2020
Quick read, charming story! If you were 65, would you want to go back to your teenage years and have a do-over? What about the life you left behind? Or the one you haven’t yet lived? This premise was written in a fresh new way. Has the boy/man gone back in time, or is he a teenager hallucinating the future? Seems like an easy choice, but there are many complications. Can you change the future as a youth? What if you already lived it and events turn out very differently from what you experienced? Would you miss your life as an aging adult? Would you trade your youth for the possibility of never seeing your wife, children, or grandchildren again? The possibilities are endless, and the angst is strong. This book makes you think, and it’s presented in a positive manner. If you are a curious sort, you will enjoy this book!
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publishers for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publishers for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
December 15, 2020
I enjoyed this novel about Peter Wyatt, a 15-year-old who wakes up in 1970 Rhode Island but the thing is he has memories of being a 65-year-old living in 2020 NYC with a wife and three kids. So being back in his childhood home in Rhode Island, with his parents, as a 9th grader is very disorienting.
While his parents and his new shrink doubt what they think is Peter's delusion, we know from the references to 2020 that he's not delusional. The author does a great job of making the reader feel the Peter's discomfort and his need to find out why he's back in 1970 and his desire to get back to 2020.
It's a funny, compelling story. I enjoyed it and was wondering how the author would resolve things: Would Peter be stuck in 1970 or could he get back to 2020? What lessons does he learn about his 15-year-old self and what lessons about his 65-year-old self?
While his parents and his new shrink doubt what they think is Peter's delusion, we know from the references to 2020 that he's not delusional. The author does a great job of making the reader feel the Peter's discomfort and his need to find out why he's back in 1970 and his desire to get back to 2020.
It's a funny, compelling story. I enjoyed it and was wondering how the author would resolve things: Would Peter be stuck in 1970 or could he get back to 2020? What lessons does he learn about his 15-year-old self and what lessons about his 65-year-old self?
November 17, 2021
Fifty in Reverse was a charming, feel-good story about Peter, a 65 year old man from the year 2020, who somehow finds himself back in the year 1970. He's 15 years old again, but all Peter really wants is to find his way back to his wife and 3 children in 2020. As this 65 year old man tries to find his way in his 15 year old body and life, he revisits historical events and "writes" songs that have yet to be written. I loved the songs of the 70s and beyond that he "wrote" and chuckled often as I read. This was just a wonderful novel that had me smiling almost the whole way through.
November 21, 2021
Easy but very interesting read, I truly enjoyed it. I am giving it 4 stars with the possibility that if I am still thinking about it 6 months from now will up date it. It is interesting that at different times. you wonder is he delusional , is it a ghost story , or is it a trick in time. Also because of my age I enjoyed the review of the last 50 years, particualarly in the area of music and politics. It made me wonder what would I be able to predict and I came up with movies, Grease, Jaws, One flew over the Cockoo's Nest. I will be recommending this book to friends.
March 4, 2023
What would you do if you woke up one day and realized that you were back in your 15-year-old self? Would you decide you're having a delusion, or in a coma, or that you'd died and you were experiencing some strange afterlife?
Or would you use your knowledge to do things differently, maybe profit a little from what you know is going to happen?
Peter Wyatt, a 65-year-old man with a wife and three kids, is faced with exactly this situation.
This started out in a humorous vein but it took an interesting turn into something a little more philosophical and poignant.
Or would you use your knowledge to do things differently, maybe profit a little from what you know is going to happen?
Peter Wyatt, a 65-year-old man with a wife and three kids, is faced with exactly this situation.
This started out in a humorous vein but it took an interesting turn into something a little more philosophical and poignant.
February 18, 2025
A nice quick read with some very poignant moments and reflections on aging and our relationship with time. I love the idea of a 65 year old yearning for the idyllic life of their 15 year old self, only to almost immediately regret it and wish they were back. It's also interesting to think about what I would want to do/say if I were in that situation. The short and sweet nature of this book makes you think about these ideas without it bashing you over the head with it. My only gripe is that it's not clear why Peter's arrival back in his 15 year old body caused such huge changes to world events.
October 21, 2020
This was an awesome book! It is about Peter Wyatt who wakes up one morning as his 15 year old self in 1970. The last memories he has are of being a 65 year old man in 2020. The things he does to make people realize he is actually 65 are at times hysterical. His parents are very supportive and he has a psychiatrist, Dr. Terry to help him out after he takes all his clothes off in math class, hoping to wake himself up and get back to 2020. I really like Bill Flanagan's writing style and recommend this book!
From the book jacket "Bill Flanagan has inherited the spirit of Kurt Vonnegut and written us a sharp, funny, charming novel about the enduring fantasy of living a life twice. What if we could live again, knowing what we know now? And what might happen to those around us? This is a wonderful comedy with a distinct social undertow. Colum McCann"
From the book jacket "Bill Flanagan has inherited the spirit of Kurt Vonnegut and written us a sharp, funny, charming novel about the enduring fantasy of living a life twice. What if we could live again, knowing what we know now? And what might happen to those around us? This is a wonderful comedy with a distinct social undertow. Colum McCann"
December 12, 2020
A clever book that went by way too fast! It tells the story of Peter Wyatt, a 65 year old guy who wakes up in 1970 as his 15 year old self. At first he enjoys it--he gets to see his parents again and revisit some memories. But he misses his "future" family and wants to get back to them. So he decides to strip naked in algebra class. Unfortunately for him, that doesn't work--so he's off to see a psychologist. A fun book with a lot of musical references--that also made me wonder how I would fit in if I was suddenly zapped back to my 15 year old body. Entertaining.
September 5, 2020
I wanted to like this more, especially because the ending was so much better than a lot of these stories. But there was just so much, especially musically, that felt forced and a little tacky. A neat idea, and not without merit, but perhaps not entirely to my taste.
May 5, 2021
It was an enjoyable book that had a fast to read style of writing. It didn’t wow me, but it wasn’t bad. I liked that the third person omniscient point of view allowed us to see into the thoughts of more than just the main character. We were able to get a more detailed characterization this way since we got into the minds of many different characters. However, there wasn’t much of a resolution or explanation for events, which I found very irritating. I had been looking forward to knowing why and how the whole conflict of Peter being stuck back in 1970 had occurred. It was like the plot wasn’t fully wrapped up. What could be called the climax, wasn’t that exciting to read and was over fast. The ending pretty much made the rest of the book pointless. The book, as a whole, could have been developed so much better. If you just want a nice read without worrying to much about the logic of it all, then you’ll enjoy this book.
January 27, 2021
I won this book in a goodreads giveaway. I really enjoyed it. The ending was disappointing I think but over all I enjoyed the book.
February 6, 2021
This was fun and didn’t end like I thought it would which is good. How many times have we said if only I knew then what I know now. It’s a quick read with really interesting characters.
June 17, 2021
i mean, it sure was a book! had a beginning, middle, and end with chapters and a plot! this is a great review.
January 29, 2022
I really enjoyed this book. I read it one night while consuming a few glasses of wine, but I would’ve liked it even without the wine.
December 30, 2020
Funny time travel tale where Peter, a 65-year-old man wakes up in 1970 as his 15-year-old self and tries to get back to his “real� life before he does something to change the course of history and his life. More sentimental and emotion that I expected from the beginning. Actually had some quite thoughtful moments about destiny and how much we control it.
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