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About Time: 12 Short Stories
From the author of Time and Again and From Time to Time comes a collection of twelve moving stories featuring time travel.About Time offers a delightful return to the world of time travel and light comedy that distinguished Jack Finney's all-time classic Time and Again. The protagonists of these twelve stories are well-meaning but at odds with their surroundings and their lives. The time to which they escape—through time travel—doesn't always fulfill their expectations in the way they had hoped, but sometimes, they can still find their dreams.
226 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 13, 1986
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3,369 people want to read
About the author
Jack Finney
131Ìýbooks459ÌýfollowersMr. Finney specialized in thrillers and works of science fiction. Two of his novels, The Body Snatchers and Good Neighbor Sam became the basis of popular films, but it was Time and Again (1970) that won him a devoted following. The novel, about an advertising artist who travels back to the New York of the 1880s, quickly became a cult favorite, beloved especially by New Yorkers for its rich, painstakingly researched descriptions of life in the city more than a century ago.
Mr. Finney, whose original name was Walter Braden Finney, was born in Milwaukee and attended Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. After moving to New York and working in the advertising industry, he began writing stories for popular magazines like Collier's, The Saturday Evening Post and McCall's.
His first novel, Five Against the House (1954), told the story of five college students who plot to rob a casino in Reno. A year later he published The Body Snatchers (later reissued as Invasion of the Body Snatchers), a chilling tale of aliens who emerge from pods in the guise of humans whom they have taken over. Many critics interpreted the insidious infiltration by aliens as a cold-war allegory that dramatized America's fear of a takeover by Communists. Mr. Finney maintained that the novel was nothing more than popular entertainment. The 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers was remade twice.
Mr. Finney first showed an interest in time travel in the short-story collection The Third Level, which included stories about a commuter who discovers a train that runs between New York and the year 1894, and a man who rebuilds an old car and finds himself transported back to the 1920s.
He returned to the thriller genre in Assault on a Queen (1959) and tried his hand at comedy in Good Neighbor Sam (1963), a novel based on his experiences as an adman, played by Jack Lemmon in the film version.
In The Woodrow Wilson Dime (1968), Mr. Finney once again explored the possibilities of time travel. The dime of the title allows the novel's hero to enter a parallel world in which he achieves fame by composing the musicals of Oscar Hammerstein and inventing the zipper.
With Time and Again, Mr. Finney won the kind of critical praise and attention not normally accorded to genre fiction. Thomas Lask, reviewing the novel in The New York Times, described it, suggestively, as "a blend of science fiction, nostalgia, mystery and acid commentary on super-government and its helots." Its hero, Si Morley, is a frustrated advertising artist who jumps at the chance to take part in a secret project that promises to change his life. So it does. He travels back to New York in 1882, moves into the Dakota apartment building on Central Park West and experiences the fabulous ordinariness of a bygone age: its trolleys, horse-drawn carriages, elevated lines, and gaslights. This year Mr. Finney published a sequel to the novel, From Time to Time.
Mr. Finney also wrote Marion's Wall (1973), about a silent-film actress who, in an attempt to revive her film career, enters the body of a shy woman, and The Night People (1977). His other fictional works include The House of Numbers (1957) and the short-story collection I Love Galesburg in the Springtime (1963). He also wrote Forgotten News: The Crime of the Century and Other Lost Stories (1983) about sensational events of the 19th century.
Mr. Finney, whose original name was Walter Braden Finney, was born in Milwaukee and attended Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. After moving to New York and working in the advertising industry, he began writing stories for popular magazines like Collier's, The Saturday Evening Post and McCall's.
His first novel, Five Against the House (1954), told the story of five college students who plot to rob a casino in Reno. A year later he published The Body Snatchers (later reissued as Invasion of the Body Snatchers), a chilling tale of aliens who emerge from pods in the guise of humans whom they have taken over. Many critics interpreted the insidious infiltration by aliens as a cold-war allegory that dramatized America's fear of a takeover by Communists. Mr. Finney maintained that the novel was nothing more than popular entertainment. The 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers was remade twice.
Mr. Finney first showed an interest in time travel in the short-story collection The Third Level, which included stories about a commuter who discovers a train that runs between New York and the year 1894, and a man who rebuilds an old car and finds himself transported back to the 1920s.
He returned to the thriller genre in Assault on a Queen (1959) and tried his hand at comedy in Good Neighbor Sam (1963), a novel based on his experiences as an adman, played by Jack Lemmon in the film version.
In The Woodrow Wilson Dime (1968), Mr. Finney once again explored the possibilities of time travel. The dime of the title allows the novel's hero to enter a parallel world in which he achieves fame by composing the musicals of Oscar Hammerstein and inventing the zipper.
With Time and Again, Mr. Finney won the kind of critical praise and attention not normally accorded to genre fiction. Thomas Lask, reviewing the novel in The New York Times, described it, suggestively, as "a blend of science fiction, nostalgia, mystery and acid commentary on super-government and its helots." Its hero, Si Morley, is a frustrated advertising artist who jumps at the chance to take part in a secret project that promises to change his life. So it does. He travels back to New York in 1882, moves into the Dakota apartment building on Central Park West and experiences the fabulous ordinariness of a bygone age: its trolleys, horse-drawn carriages, elevated lines, and gaslights. This year Mr. Finney published a sequel to the novel, From Time to Time.
Mr. Finney also wrote Marion's Wall (1973), about a silent-film actress who, in an attempt to revive her film career, enters the body of a shy woman, and The Night People (1977). His other fictional works include The House of Numbers (1957) and the short-story collection I Love Galesburg in the Springtime (1963). He also wrote Forgotten News: The Crime of the Century and Other Lost Stories (1983) about sensational events of the 19th century.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 169 reviews
June 19, 2023
What can I say!! This is a huge favorite of mine. It's my go to when I can't settle on anything and when I need to escape the world. There are maybe two stories I'm not keen on but I love the rest and my absolute favorite is Where The Cluetts Are. I have a fascination with stories that have houses at their centre and this IS all about the house.
Jack Finney had a fantastic imagination.
I'm re-reading this because I can't settle to a novel. Still five stars for me! I love it!!
Jack Finney had a fantastic imagination.
I'm re-reading this because I can't settle to a novel. Still five stars for me! I love it!!
June 28, 2021
The last stop in my time travel marathon was About Time: Twelve Stories by Jack Finney. One of the delights of this collection is that, surprisingly, not every tale is dictated by time travel. "Exotic travel" would be a more accurate description, with characters dulled by their daily routines each glimpsing a means to escape into a more exciting world. Five of the stories were originally published in 1957 in the anthology The Third Level while seven of the stories first appeared in 1962 as part of I Love Galesburg in the Springtime. Science fiction fantasy just doesn't get any more irresistible.
Five stars:
I Love Galesburg in the Springtime. Reporter Oscar Mannheim of the Register-Mail, a local boy who refused any opportunities that would've taken him away from his hometown of Galesburg, Illinois, investigates the account of a business investor who claims he was nearly run down by a streetcar, the likes of which hasn't existed in town in twenty years. His story may be connected to a blaze extinguished by a phantom fire brigade and a farmer whose out-of-service wall phone rings one night.
Home Alone (original title The Intrepid Aeronaut). Charley Burke's observation of a hawk floating in the winds high above his home in Marin County inspires him to build a balloon, a project he keeps a secret. On his maiden moonlit flight over the San Francisco Bay Area, Charley's activities are revealed to a neighbor, Edna Landias, while she walks her dog. Mrs. Landias seeks Charley out and begs him to take with her him on his next flight.
Second Chance. A college senior in Hylesburg, Illinois realizes his dream to restore a 1923 Jordan Playboy, purchased for seventy-five dollars from a farmer who reveals that the car was damaged a year after it rolled off the lot when the daredevil teenager behind the wheel decided to race a train and lost, killing himself and his girlfriend. His restoration complete, the classic car lover finds himself racing into 1923 on the night of the Playboy's fateful race.
Hey, Look at Me!. Book critic Peter Marks of Mill Valley, California develops a friendship with a solitary, destitute writer named Maxwell Kingery, who feels he's destined to be celebrated as a great author and man. Kingery's ambition is overshadowed by a chronic case of bad luck and even after his dreams die, his spirit lives on, much to the horror of Marks and his wife Cora.
Four stars:
Such Interesting Neighbors. San Rafael resident Al Lewis recounts his strange neighbors, Ted & Ann Hellenbek, who arrived in town with new clothes and furniture. Ann has a habit of walking into closed doors. Ted fancies himself as an inventor, as well as an amateur science fiction writer, and shares with Al a fantastic tale he made up about a future where time travel is the most popular tourist attraction, so popular, that the population begins plummeting when people relocate to the past.
Where the Cluetts Are. An architect is offered the job of building a dream house in Darley, Connecticut for a shipbuilder named Sam Cluett. Reviewing designs with the two men, the client's wife Ellie stumbles upon an architectural rendering drawn but never constructed in the 1880s. Money being no object, the Cluetts pick the vintage design, purchasing land and using all the original building materials. Once complete, the magnificent house has a curious effect on the couple.
I'm Scared. A widower in New York City tunes in to a radio broadcast from twenty years in the past. His anecdote introduces him to others who have their own strange experiences to relate: a strip of gray paint that appears on a house one year before the owner begins repainting, a couple whose marriage is dissolving after a family photo when developed reveals a strange woman standing in her place, a detective trying to identify a man struck dead in Times Square wearing 19th century garb and carrying ancient pocket change. The widower's deduction about what these stories foretell is not good.
These savory tales constitute a wonderful appetizer to Time and Again, the full-course time travel novel Jack Finney published in 1970 and the best book of its kind I've read. Several of the stories feature elements that would stick in Finney's head long enough to appea in his novel: New York City, the 1880s, architecture, sketching, Einstein theory. Finney, who graduated college in Galesburg, IL in 1934, worked in New York at an advertising agency and settled in Northern California in the early '50s, infuses his work with the atmosphere and mood swings of each of those three locations.
My favorite story of the bunch, Second Chance, uses a vintage car as a time travel device, returning the young driver thirty years in the past, where he risks tampering with his family tree. I find it improbable that Bob Gale & Robert Zemeckis were unaware of the story before they wrote Back to the Future.
Each of the stories was written more or less during the time The Twilight Zone was on the air. While Jack Finney never wrote for the television series, his work fits far too easily into the dark fantasy of the program, making it tempting to think Rod Serling was aware of Finney's outstanding work as well.
Five stars:
I Love Galesburg in the Springtime. Reporter Oscar Mannheim of the Register-Mail, a local boy who refused any opportunities that would've taken him away from his hometown of Galesburg, Illinois, investigates the account of a business investor who claims he was nearly run down by a streetcar, the likes of which hasn't existed in town in twenty years. His story may be connected to a blaze extinguished by a phantom fire brigade and a farmer whose out-of-service wall phone rings one night.
Home Alone (original title The Intrepid Aeronaut). Charley Burke's observation of a hawk floating in the winds high above his home in Marin County inspires him to build a balloon, a project he keeps a secret. On his maiden moonlit flight over the San Francisco Bay Area, Charley's activities are revealed to a neighbor, Edna Landias, while she walks her dog. Mrs. Landias seeks Charley out and begs him to take with her him on his next flight.
Second Chance. A college senior in Hylesburg, Illinois realizes his dream to restore a 1923 Jordan Playboy, purchased for seventy-five dollars from a farmer who reveals that the car was damaged a year after it rolled off the lot when the daredevil teenager behind the wheel decided to race a train and lost, killing himself and his girlfriend. His restoration complete, the classic car lover finds himself racing into 1923 on the night of the Playboy's fateful race.
Hey, Look at Me!. Book critic Peter Marks of Mill Valley, California develops a friendship with a solitary, destitute writer named Maxwell Kingery, who feels he's destined to be celebrated as a great author and man. Kingery's ambition is overshadowed by a chronic case of bad luck and even after his dreams die, his spirit lives on, much to the horror of Marks and his wife Cora.
Four stars:
Such Interesting Neighbors. San Rafael resident Al Lewis recounts his strange neighbors, Ted & Ann Hellenbek, who arrived in town with new clothes and furniture. Ann has a habit of walking into closed doors. Ted fancies himself as an inventor, as well as an amateur science fiction writer, and shares with Al a fantastic tale he made up about a future where time travel is the most popular tourist attraction, so popular, that the population begins plummeting when people relocate to the past.
Where the Cluetts Are. An architect is offered the job of building a dream house in Darley, Connecticut for a shipbuilder named Sam Cluett. Reviewing designs with the two men, the client's wife Ellie stumbles upon an architectural rendering drawn but never constructed in the 1880s. Money being no object, the Cluetts pick the vintage design, purchasing land and using all the original building materials. Once complete, the magnificent house has a curious effect on the couple.
I'm Scared. A widower in New York City tunes in to a radio broadcast from twenty years in the past. His anecdote introduces him to others who have their own strange experiences to relate: a strip of gray paint that appears on a house one year before the owner begins repainting, a couple whose marriage is dissolving after a family photo when developed reveals a strange woman standing in her place, a detective trying to identify a man struck dead in Times Square wearing 19th century garb and carrying ancient pocket change. The widower's deduction about what these stories foretell is not good.
These savory tales constitute a wonderful appetizer to Time and Again, the full-course time travel novel Jack Finney published in 1970 and the best book of its kind I've read. Several of the stories feature elements that would stick in Finney's head long enough to appea in his novel: New York City, the 1880s, architecture, sketching, Einstein theory. Finney, who graduated college in Galesburg, IL in 1934, worked in New York at an advertising agency and settled in Northern California in the early '50s, infuses his work with the atmosphere and mood swings of each of those three locations.
My favorite story of the bunch, Second Chance, uses a vintage car as a time travel device, returning the young driver thirty years in the past, where he risks tampering with his family tree. I find it improbable that Bob Gale & Robert Zemeckis were unaware of the story before they wrote Back to the Future.
Each of the stories was written more or less during the time The Twilight Zone was on the air. While Jack Finney never wrote for the television series, his work fits far too easily into the dark fantasy of the program, making it tempting to think Rod Serling was aware of Finney's outstanding work as well.
September 14, 2023
Actual rating: 3.89548659stars.
Twelve stories, twelve different takes on time travel/slippage/whatever (and a little bit of fantasy, too). Three of them I didn't enjoy that much (I probably read them wrong) but this is still a pretty good collection overall. The stories are despicably charming and whimsical and give off a revoltingly delightful, nostalgic vibe (which kind of sort of makes sense since they were written in the late 50s/early 60s and stuff).
Anything else to report? Except for the fact that I just love Jack Finney's take on time travel you mean? Nope, nothing at all 😬.
P.S. It only took me NINE bloody shrimping years to finally read this one, go me and stuff 💪.
· Time series, book 1: Time and Again ★★★★�
· Time series, book 2: From Time to Time ★★★★
Twelve stories, twelve different takes on time travel/slippage/whatever (and a little bit of fantasy, too). Three of them I didn't enjoy that much (I probably read them wrong) but this is still a pretty good collection overall. The stories are despicably charming and whimsical and give off a revoltingly delightful, nostalgic vibe (which kind of sort of makes sense since they were written in the late 50s/early 60s and stuff).
Anything else to report? Except for the fact that I just love Jack Finney's take on time travel you mean? Nope, nothing at all 😬.
P.S. It only took me NINE bloody shrimping years to finally read this one, go me and stuff 💪.
· Time series, book 1: Time and Again ★★★★�
· Time series, book 2: From Time to Time ★★★★
February 17, 2019
If you ask me, the best episodes of The Twilight Zone were the not-scary, not-creepy, quiet and mildly comical stories of old folks who traveled back a couple decades in time to relive their childhoods. This collection is like twelve of those wonderful episodes all in a row. They're quaint and quick short stories with twist endings that don't frighten or alarm but instead leave a warm, nostalgic kind of glow. Interesting that there was a vein of "let's go back to the good old days" already in the 1950s and 60s when these stories were first published. I guess the current generation always looks back fondly on the past with rose-tinted glasses.
4 stars out of 5. Excellent low-key afternoon reading.
4 stars out of 5. Excellent low-key afternoon reading.
August 30, 2010
Jack Finney is responsible for my love of time travel stories. My first exposure to this genre came when I was eight or nine years old. I was watching tv at my grandmother’s home � a show called Science Fiction Theatre. It was late afternoon or early evening on a Sunday. The story made quite an impression on me � I still remember the exact title. It was Time is Just a Place and it told of strange new neighbors, a husband and wife, who moved in and became acquainted with the couple living next door. The husband claimed to be an inventor and showed their new friends some hitherto unseen gadgets that were extremely futuristic. Eventually it is revealed that they are from an unpleasant future and have escaped back to a more inviting time.
When I was reading the third story in this book, Such Interesting Neighbors, I realized it was the plot described above. A little internet research revealed Time is Just a Place was based on Jack Finney’s short story and that the original show I saw was available for viewing on You Tube. I watched it. The low budget, 1950s style special effects seem cheesy now but they sure made an impression on me then. Reading Such Interesting Neighbors now presents no such problem � it is a terrific short story, as are all the stories in this volume.
I enjoyed this book immensley.
When I was reading the third story in this book, Such Interesting Neighbors, I realized it was the plot described above. A little internet research revealed Time is Just a Place was based on Jack Finney’s short story and that the original show I saw was available for viewing on You Tube. I watched it. The low budget, 1950s style special effects seem cheesy now but they sure made an impression on me then. Reading Such Interesting Neighbors now presents no such problem � it is a terrific short story, as are all the stories in this volume.
I enjoyed this book immensley.
January 5, 2016
A charming collection of fantasy/sf stories by the author of Time and Again. The style of the stories have alot in common with the Twilight Zone tv show and stories by Ray Bradbury. Not all of the stories are about time travel. My personal favorite is Second Chance, a feel-good story that makes me smile whenever I think about it. This collection is well worth reading.
January 20, 2022
O Henry type short stories about time shifting. Some intriguing, some not but overall a nostalgic "Twilight Zone" trip back to the 1950's.
September 16, 2018
Reading Jack Finney is like coming back to an old friend who has lots of great stories. Most of his stories involve slippages in time and people who take advantage of them, sometimes because they’re not happy with the present, sometimes because they’re curious about something that happened before they were born. “The Third Level� proposes a third level below ground level at Grand Central Station where the train can take one back to the late 19th century. “Such Interesting Neighbors� features neighbors who may have traveled from the future to the present where they like it better. “Where the Cluetts Are� changes during the story as the house they build based on 19th century plans brings them back in time. And “Second Chance� focuses on a young man restoring a classic car and how that may lead to his happiness in the present. A lovely read.
June 9, 2010
I usually prefer novels to short stories, but this beat Time and Again (a novel by the same author) hands down. All the stories but one are about time travel or some other magical element, but each with its own unique twist. Impressive that the author could come up with so many different approaches. A fun and fast read.
August 2, 2018
A wonder. A testament to the fact that humans have always been looking for an escape.
October 4, 2024
4 Stars
“Have you ever given someone a book you enjoyed enormously, with a feeling of envy because they were about to read it for the first time, an experience you could never have again?�
� Jack Finney
This is the second time Finney has given me the gift of a memorable experience. As with all story collections some are better than others, but all of these are worth reading. I will be reading more by Finney.
An easy recommendation!!
“Have you ever given someone a book you enjoyed enormously, with a feeling of envy because they were about to read it for the first time, an experience you could never have again?�
� Jack Finney
This is the second time Finney has given me the gift of a memorable experience. As with all story collections some are better than others, but all of these are worth reading. I will be reading more by Finney.
An easy recommendation!!
April 22, 2014
I read this collection of twelve stories whilst reading another book (a non-fiction account of Manchester, England), alternating spates of hard fact(s) with relaxing excursions into the past. And speaking of the past, I had read this collection about 15 years ago. Before that I had read many of the stories separately, in different anthologies and magazines, when I was a young teenager, which prompted me to read his novel Time and Again when it came out a few years later. When I’d first read About Time 15 years ago, I was convinced I needed to prolong the nostalgia and so re-read the very entertaining Time and Again.
Finney’s oeuvre is a wistful nostalgia, escapism that transports the reader to a world and time better than the present (late 50s and early 60s) because it is simpler and slower, and consequently more humane. Finney’s writing is well adapted to serve very clever plots and conceits, and exceeds being merely utilitarian because he is able to modulate his voice in mostly first-person narratives (11 of the 12), though there is a certain sameness in that all have a calm, matter-of-fact reasonableness to them, neither too much nor little being said while employing a streamlined discursive tone that sometimes rhapsodizes (though in never a purple manner) about, typically, aspects of the past. In addition to the wistfulness, there is often a gentle playfulness in his narrator’s manner, which further ingratiates the narrator. In short, it’s as if a Finney narrator is someone had sat down with you at a bistro or lounge and with whom you were enjoying the moment when suddenly and almost confidentially he commences to tell you about something that was on his mind, just because he’d been mulling it over pleasantly for a while and thought it interesting.
Quick synopses (in order of preference)
The Third Level: narrator discovers a third train level at Grand Central which takes one back to 1890s, but cannot find it again. Amongst his first-day covers, he discovers a letter from 1894 which was written by the only man to whom he’d told of the third level
Second Chance: the narrator rebuilds an old car that was wrecked in fatal collision, re-enters that car’s era and loses the car to its previous owner, then falls in love with a girl whose father drove the same model car
Such Interesting Neighbors: a narrator recounts his former neighbors whose husband made small inventions and showed him a mock-up of an illustrated story about people leaving a dying future in order to settle in the past
Of Missing Persons: the narrator recounts forlornly how he’d had the chance to go to the world of his dreams, but he’d doubted at the last second its reality
Home Alone: in the single third-person story in this collection, the protagonist is alone for several days while his wife and kids are away, and he builds and flies a hot-air balloon twice, once with a neighbor woman
The Face in the Photo: a physicist sending people to the past must deal with a nosey detective who has seen old photos that reveal the physicist’s activities
I’m Scared: the narrator’s thesis, based on a list of strange events (including a 30-year-old radio broadcast, a full-grown dog that appears before its owner has even bought the puppy, a family photo that appears to show the family two or three years in the future) is that nostalgia (a longing for the past) is disrupting time itself
The Coin Collector: by means of coins that themselves have slipped between two alternate time streams, the narrator alternates every three or four months between different-tempered wives
Lunch Hour Magic: the narrator tells how he uses his lunchtime to find interesting things, in this case some one-off items at a two-bit magic shop that bring him and a co-worker closer together
I Love Galesburg in the Springtime: a series of accidents that seem to involve specters from the past suggest to the narrator that the town is fighting back against any attempts to modernize the little town of Galesburg, IL
Where the Cluetts Are: the architect narrator recounts how his wealthy friends had him use his grandfather’s 1880s plans to build a “new� home, which ends in altering their lives
Hey, Look at Me: the narrator tells about an ambitious writer who dies before his opus is complete and whose ghost is re-appearing in order to complete the task that was going to make his name
History tells me that Finney’s novel Time and Again is on the nearby horizon, but now aware of just how seductive Finney’s version of the past can be, I’m better prepared to resist a third reading of Time and Again (in order to deal with a stack of waiting books)... for now.
Finney’s oeuvre is a wistful nostalgia, escapism that transports the reader to a world and time better than the present (late 50s and early 60s) because it is simpler and slower, and consequently more humane. Finney’s writing is well adapted to serve very clever plots and conceits, and exceeds being merely utilitarian because he is able to modulate his voice in mostly first-person narratives (11 of the 12), though there is a certain sameness in that all have a calm, matter-of-fact reasonableness to them, neither too much nor little being said while employing a streamlined discursive tone that sometimes rhapsodizes (though in never a purple manner) about, typically, aspects of the past. In addition to the wistfulness, there is often a gentle playfulness in his narrator’s manner, which further ingratiates the narrator. In short, it’s as if a Finney narrator is someone had sat down with you at a bistro or lounge and with whom you were enjoying the moment when suddenly and almost confidentially he commences to tell you about something that was on his mind, just because he’d been mulling it over pleasantly for a while and thought it interesting.
Quick synopses (in order of preference)
The Third Level: narrator discovers a third train level at Grand Central which takes one back to 1890s, but cannot find it again. Amongst his first-day covers, he discovers a letter from 1894 which was written by the only man to whom he’d told of the third level
Second Chance: the narrator rebuilds an old car that was wrecked in fatal collision, re-enters that car’s era and loses the car to its previous owner, then falls in love with a girl whose father drove the same model car
Such Interesting Neighbors: a narrator recounts his former neighbors whose husband made small inventions and showed him a mock-up of an illustrated story about people leaving a dying future in order to settle in the past
Of Missing Persons: the narrator recounts forlornly how he’d had the chance to go to the world of his dreams, but he’d doubted at the last second its reality
Home Alone: in the single third-person story in this collection, the protagonist is alone for several days while his wife and kids are away, and he builds and flies a hot-air balloon twice, once with a neighbor woman
The Face in the Photo: a physicist sending people to the past must deal with a nosey detective who has seen old photos that reveal the physicist’s activities
I’m Scared: the narrator’s thesis, based on a list of strange events (including a 30-year-old radio broadcast, a full-grown dog that appears before its owner has even bought the puppy, a family photo that appears to show the family two or three years in the future) is that nostalgia (a longing for the past) is disrupting time itself
The Coin Collector: by means of coins that themselves have slipped between two alternate time streams, the narrator alternates every three or four months between different-tempered wives
Lunch Hour Magic: the narrator tells how he uses his lunchtime to find interesting things, in this case some one-off items at a two-bit magic shop that bring him and a co-worker closer together
I Love Galesburg in the Springtime: a series of accidents that seem to involve specters from the past suggest to the narrator that the town is fighting back against any attempts to modernize the little town of Galesburg, IL
Where the Cluetts Are: the architect narrator recounts how his wealthy friends had him use his grandfather’s 1880s plans to build a “new� home, which ends in altering their lives
Hey, Look at Me: the narrator tells about an ambitious writer who dies before his opus is complete and whose ghost is re-appearing in order to complete the task that was going to make his name
History tells me that Finney’s novel Time and Again is on the nearby horizon, but now aware of just how seductive Finney’s version of the past can be, I’m better prepared to resist a third reading of Time and Again (in order to deal with a stack of waiting books)... for now.
December 2, 2018
Originally published on my book blog, .
Jack Finney wrote a much-beloved time travel classic, Time and Again. These are short stories that also play with both time and place. All of them are about 20-25 pages, and perfect to dip into between books or when you just have a little reading time.
As with most collections, I appreciated some more than others. One was way off base for me, but overall they were solid and enjoyable.
Finney was born in the Midwest, and that’s where he went to college. Then he moved to New York City and worked in advertising. Later, he lived in the San Francisco Bay Area. All of these locales make appearances in his stories, and all feel nostalgic.
About the stories
One deeply chauvinistic story, Lunch-Hour Magic, is about glasses that give a young New York City man x-ray vision of only the women around him. I could hardly get through this one, written in 1962. It was full of a Mad Men vibe, including plenty of female objectification. I thought seriously about putting this book down.
But I didn’t, and I’m glad. Because Finney then segues into an utterly charming story. Where the Cluetts Are is about a couple who builds a Victorian house, accurate down to gas lamps and wrap-around veranda. Over the first few months of living there, they choose to inhabit that time period. They dress for it, read the books of the time, and drive around in horse and buggy. Somehow it works for them, and their architect simply admires their resolve.
A dreamy story called Home Alone is about a man building a balloon and floating above Marin County for two glorious nights. I loved imagining myself on that balloon, and seeing all the nighttime sights of San Francisco.
And Hey, Look at Me!, which is a soliloquy about grief, loss, and ghosts who need to be seen and remembered. In my own grieving, I’ve learned how we feel lost without that person who died. In this story, the protagonist also feels lost, but so does his friend who died. It gave me chills.
Another story, I’m Scared, has become and is referenced by other authors. Finney was a giant of time-travel fantasy, writing and publishing until his death at 84 in 1995.
My conclusions
There are several other stories in this collection, all of them unique and thought-provoking. Finney has a cinematic style, evidenced by how many of his works ended up onscreen. I’m in awe of authors whose writing is intensely evocative in so few pages. Finney allows us to inhabit his imagination throughout this short book. He was a time-travel treasure.
Jack Finney wrote a much-beloved time travel classic, Time and Again. These are short stories that also play with both time and place. All of them are about 20-25 pages, and perfect to dip into between books or when you just have a little reading time.
As with most collections, I appreciated some more than others. One was way off base for me, but overall they were solid and enjoyable.
Finney was born in the Midwest, and that’s where he went to college. Then he moved to New York City and worked in advertising. Later, he lived in the San Francisco Bay Area. All of these locales make appearances in his stories, and all feel nostalgic.
About the stories
One deeply chauvinistic story, Lunch-Hour Magic, is about glasses that give a young New York City man x-ray vision of only the women around him. I could hardly get through this one, written in 1962. It was full of a Mad Men vibe, including plenty of female objectification. I thought seriously about putting this book down.
But I didn’t, and I’m glad. Because Finney then segues into an utterly charming story. Where the Cluetts Are is about a couple who builds a Victorian house, accurate down to gas lamps and wrap-around veranda. Over the first few months of living there, they choose to inhabit that time period. They dress for it, read the books of the time, and drive around in horse and buggy. Somehow it works for them, and their architect simply admires their resolve.
A dreamy story called Home Alone is about a man building a balloon and floating above Marin County for two glorious nights. I loved imagining myself on that balloon, and seeing all the nighttime sights of San Francisco.
And Hey, Look at Me!, which is a soliloquy about grief, loss, and ghosts who need to be seen and remembered. In my own grieving, I’ve learned how we feel lost without that person who died. In this story, the protagonist also feels lost, but so does his friend who died. It gave me chills.
Another story, I’m Scared, has become and is referenced by other authors. Finney was a giant of time-travel fantasy, writing and publishing until his death at 84 in 1995.
My conclusions
There are several other stories in this collection, all of them unique and thought-provoking. Finney has a cinematic style, evidenced by how many of his works ended up onscreen. I’m in awe of authors whose writing is intensely evocative in so few pages. Finney allows us to inhabit his imagination throughout this short book. He was a time-travel treasure.
May 20, 2018
After being so disappointed with From Time to Time, I was a little hesitant to try more time travel lit from Jack Finney, especially short stories, which can be difficult to get right. Thankfully, About Time is more along the lines of Time and Again as far as quality and charm goes. In fact, I think the short story may be Jack Finney's forte (based on my admittedly very small sampling of his work). These stories are honestly delightful. My favorites were "Where the Cluetts Are" (a new house somehow connects to its 19th century counterpart), "Second Chance" (when I figured out what had happened [a few paragraphs before it was revealed], I couldn't stop smiling), and "The Third Level" (oh, the pathos of a missed opportunity). My understanding is that he wrote most, if not all, of these stories before he wrote Time and Again, and you can definitely see how some of the concepts from these stories made their way into his novel several years later.
My initial thought, after reading the first story and realizing I was going like this book, was that I would ration the stories, one per day so I could stretch out my enjoyment. But similar to when I try to ration chocolate so I can enjoy it for longer, before I knew it, I had read half the book and didn't want to stop.
I almost gave this one 5 stars. I loved most of the stories and I will definitely be reading it again. But in light of the fact that there were a few stories I didn't love and there were pervasive sexist overtones throughout the book, which are clearly a product of their time (most of the stories are set in the 50s and 60s), but were still slightly annoying, I'm officially calling it 4.5 stars.
My initial thought, after reading the first story and realizing I was going like this book, was that I would ration the stories, one per day so I could stretch out my enjoyment. But similar to when I try to ration chocolate so I can enjoy it for longer, before I knew it, I had read half the book and didn't want to stop.
I almost gave this one 5 stars. I loved most of the stories and I will definitely be reading it again. But in light of the fact that there were a few stories I didn't love and there were pervasive sexist overtones throughout the book, which are clearly a product of their time (most of the stories are set in the 50s and 60s), but were still slightly annoying, I'm officially calling it 4.5 stars.
March 9, 2013
There are 12 stories in the book, so the 4 stars are based on my general impression of them all. I was surprised to find that two of these stories are not time travel stories at all. Still, they were somewhat quirky and fun.
'Such interesting Neighbors' is one of the better stories in this collection. It foresees a time when time machines are available to the masses . Mr. Finney envisions a stark future.
'The Coin Collector' was also very interesting, albeit, a bit disturbing. It made me think of polygamy, in a way.
I didn't realize I had previously read 'Of Missing Persons' until near the end. It hit me then that I read this story many years ago. It may have been required reading in Middle school or perhaps something I read in Reader's Digest in my early teens. It hit me as a story of trust and faith and also of regret.
'Second Chance' - well, besides the fact that it was a story about second chances, the story makes the reader feel that someone really is watching over us all and mistakes can be corrected. Based on this story, I doubt Mr. Finney was an atheist.
'Home Alone' is the better of the two non-time travel stories. It's a whimsical fantasy of hot air ballooning.
In my opinion, Mr. Finney wrote the best time travel book ever - 'Time and Again.' It isn't fair to compare these stories with that novel for obvious reasons - in a novel you have much more time to flesh-out the characters and the story line. Still, this is an enjoyable collection that should entertain most readers - especially those who are intrigued by the concept of time travel.
'Such interesting Neighbors' is one of the better stories in this collection. It foresees a time when time machines are available to the masses . Mr. Finney envisions a stark future.
'The Coin Collector' was also very interesting, albeit, a bit disturbing. It made me think of polygamy, in a way.
I didn't realize I had previously read 'Of Missing Persons' until near the end. It hit me then that I read this story many years ago. It may have been required reading in Middle school or perhaps something I read in Reader's Digest in my early teens. It hit me as a story of trust and faith and also of regret.
'Second Chance' - well, besides the fact that it was a story about second chances, the story makes the reader feel that someone really is watching over us all and mistakes can be corrected. Based on this story, I doubt Mr. Finney was an atheist.
'Home Alone' is the better of the two non-time travel stories. It's a whimsical fantasy of hot air ballooning.
In my opinion, Mr. Finney wrote the best time travel book ever - 'Time and Again.' It isn't fair to compare these stories with that novel for obvious reasons - in a novel you have much more time to flesh-out the characters and the story line. Still, this is an enjoyable collection that should entertain most readers - especially those who are intrigued by the concept of time travel.
June 14, 2009
I had to read a Finney story (Contents of the Dead Man's Pockets) for a high school lit class a few years back and absolutely loved it. Unfortunately, due to my extreme procrastination, it's taken me 5 years to track down and set out to read any of his other stuff. Thankfully, though, I never forgot my desire to do so!
I started out About Time with relatively low hopes. I loved Contents...but time travel? Not exactly my thing. However Finney's knack for creating instantly relatable, simple characters drew me in once more, and I immediately remembered why I fell in love with Contents.
This is a wonderful collection of easily-digestible and lovably quirky stories . I think there were only 2 that didn't absolutely hook me in (Second Chance & Lunch-Hour Magic). (due to that I would really like to give it 4.5 stars....those 2 were a bit difficult to get through- but the other 10 were so great that I didn't have the heart to knock it down to a measly 4 stars!)
Highlights:
The Third Level
Such Interesting Neighbors
Of Missing Persons
Hey, Look At Me!
But really, all 12 of the stories are worth reading...I will definitely be reading more Finney very, very soon!!
I started out About Time with relatively low hopes. I loved Contents...but time travel? Not exactly my thing. However Finney's knack for creating instantly relatable, simple characters drew me in once more, and I immediately remembered why I fell in love with Contents.
This is a wonderful collection of easily-digestible and lovably quirky stories . I think there were only 2 that didn't absolutely hook me in (Second Chance & Lunch-Hour Magic). (due to that I would really like to give it 4.5 stars....those 2 were a bit difficult to get through- but the other 10 were so great that I didn't have the heart to knock it down to a measly 4 stars!)
Highlights:
The Third Level
Such Interesting Neighbors
Of Missing Persons
Hey, Look At Me!
But really, all 12 of the stories are worth reading...I will definitely be reading more Finney very, very soon!!
August 4, 2017
Short stories by the author of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." My favorite, which I first read at age 12, was "Of Missing Persons," a story about faith that I recommend highly, though I can see the author's manipulations better than I could at that age. The worst one was "Lunch Hour Magic" which is "romance" 1950s style and pretty awful (it involves X-ray specs and love potions). Another good one was "Where the Cluetts Are" about a couple who build a house by plans from a century before. It's unfair to fault him for being cliched-- he helped define the cliches-- but that's how some of the stories come across, anyway.
I found the narrator's voice, filled with slang and references to pop culture of the time, distracting in most of the stories. These are pretty much one-idea stories, like episodes of The Twilight Zone or Amazing Stories (as opposed to a story with a hundred new ideas, like "Burning Chrome.") The better ones are reminiscent of stories by Ray Bradbury or Roald Dahl.
Most of the stories are nostalgic for a simpler, prettier, more innocent time-- by which he means the 1880s and 1890s, more or less.
I found the narrator's voice, filled with slang and references to pop culture of the time, distracting in most of the stories. These are pretty much one-idea stories, like episodes of The Twilight Zone or Amazing Stories (as opposed to a story with a hundred new ideas, like "Burning Chrome.") The better ones are reminiscent of stories by Ray Bradbury or Roald Dahl.
Most of the stories are nostalgic for a simpler, prettier, more innocent time-- by which he means the 1880s and 1890s, more or less.
December 14, 2018
Looking back on the books I've read in 2018, I realize that although I've taken in collections of poems, essays, and diaries, this Jack Finney anthology is the only actual batch of short STORIES that I've consumed all year! I'm glad I squeezed it in, as I completely enjoyed these tales, perhaps even more than the novels of his which I've read.
Though a few of them do feel slightly dated (as one would expect when reading something more than a half century old), they're wonderfully imaginative, and some would make for great TV or film adaptations.
To be clear, about 1/4 of these aren't actually about time travel, but with the exception of one strange and slightly whimsical tale, they do all deal with temporal/supernatural disturbances. I can't pick a favorite story from the lot, but I can single out my favorite passage from the book: the final sentences of a story called "I'm Scared," which holds as true today as when first published in 1957:
"We live on a planet well able to provide a decent life for every soul on it, which is all ninety-nine of a hundred human beings ask. Why in the world can't we have it?"
Though a few of them do feel slightly dated (as one would expect when reading something more than a half century old), they're wonderfully imaginative, and some would make for great TV or film adaptations.
To be clear, about 1/4 of these aren't actually about time travel, but with the exception of one strange and slightly whimsical tale, they do all deal with temporal/supernatural disturbances. I can't pick a favorite story from the lot, but I can single out my favorite passage from the book: the final sentences of a story called "I'm Scared," which holds as true today as when first published in 1957:
"We live on a planet well able to provide a decent life for every soul on it, which is all ninety-nine of a hundred human beings ask. Why in the world can't we have it?"
April 9, 2015
Some of these stories have haunted my thoughts for years after reading the collection originally. I must have first read this in 1991 or 1992 and have been thinking about the plots and characters ever since. The two most notable for me were Lunch Hour Magic and Of Missing Persons. If you like time travel fiction you should be reading Jack Finney.
November 25, 2019
Best collection of short stories I've ever read and all with some element of time travel involved, which I love reading about. I also enjoyed the 1950s style of writing that these stories are based in. Even without the time travel, I like reading of that simpler time of Americana.
One of the best stories in the book is called "Lunch Hour Magic," and it was a fun read about a guy who likes to visit odd shops and stores within the city during his daily lunch break. He finds some interesting products for sale in one such store, but when he returns for more of the same product, he ends up buying another new / different product instead that is even more intriguing than the last. Great ending to that one. A lot of these stories have the aura and charm of an old episode of The Twilight Zone.
Often, books appeal to different people in different ways. Based on a person's own life experiences, he/she will favor some stories and books over others. I liked the way the author took one theme of time travel and wrote 12 original stories on the subject, each one taking a different approach to the novelty of the idea. For example, one story focused on the opportunity to get a second chance at correcting a regret. Another story focused on how much simpler and charming the life of a generation ago would be today. Yet another one introduced the idea that if you could go back in time and change something in the past, it might have a positive impact on the lives of everyone for years into the future. Out of the 12 stories in the book, none of them had similar plots. That's not easy to do when all dozen stories share a common thread.
I rarely give 5 stars for a book, but this one is special. It's even more rare that I keep a book after reading it, but I'm going to hang on to this one for a re-read.
One of the best stories in the book is called "Lunch Hour Magic," and it was a fun read about a guy who likes to visit odd shops and stores within the city during his daily lunch break. He finds some interesting products for sale in one such store, but when he returns for more of the same product, he ends up buying another new / different product instead that is even more intriguing than the last. Great ending to that one. A lot of these stories have the aura and charm of an old episode of The Twilight Zone.
Often, books appeal to different people in different ways. Based on a person's own life experiences, he/she will favor some stories and books over others. I liked the way the author took one theme of time travel and wrote 12 original stories on the subject, each one taking a different approach to the novelty of the idea. For example, one story focused on the opportunity to get a second chance at correcting a regret. Another story focused on how much simpler and charming the life of a generation ago would be today. Yet another one introduced the idea that if you could go back in time and change something in the past, it might have a positive impact on the lives of everyone for years into the future. Out of the 12 stories in the book, none of them had similar plots. That's not easy to do when all dozen stories share a common thread.
I rarely give 5 stars for a book, but this one is special. It's even more rare that I keep a book after reading it, but I'm going to hang on to this one for a re-read.
Read
January 10, 2009Light, humorous, nostalgic, and predictable -- the modern 50s-60s man yearning for a golden age prior to WWI -- 12 quirky time travel stories -- my favorites: "Second Chance" where life yearns for itself through the soul of a restored car; "The Third Level" where NY's grand central station has a 3rd level that travels through time and where the man of science, the psychiatrist, has the last laugh about superstition; "Such Interesting Neighbors" where mankind evaporates when everyone is on a loop back to the past; "The Coin Collector" despite its clunky, outrageous sexism because of the coin gimmick; "Of Missing Persons" where the opportunity of a lifetime comes only once and one must be bold to claim it; "I'm Scared" where Finney repeats what seems to be his favorite theme of people desperate to escape the time in which they are locked ... "Yes, there is a craving in the world like a thirst, a terrible mass pressure that you can almost feel, of millions of minds struggling against the barriers of time. I am utterly convinced that this terrible mass pressure of millions of minds is already, slightly but definitely affecting time itself." (163)
March 17, 2016
A pleasant collection of stories mostly about time travel from the guy who wrote the classic "Invasion of the body snatchers".
The better stories in this collection weren't about time travel though, like the whimsical Bradbury-style "Home Alone" about a bored guy home alone while his wife and kid are away. He decides to build a hot air balloon and go floating across the city at night, picking up a housewife neighbour on the way. Of the time travel stories, one about a teenager travelling in time using a classic car he builds himself reminded me of Back to the Future.
My favourites: The Coin Collector where a guy travels to an alternate universe on the flip of a coin, and Face in the Photo about a detective who discovers missing criminals in old photos (nice twist to this one), and Of Missing Persons (misleading title) about a travel agency that sends people to a utopia on another planet (good twist in this one too) but not really time travel. "Lunch Hour Magic" with its junk shop (Needful Things) xray glasses and love potions was a bit cringeworthy.
The stories do have one thing in common: escape from the everyday.
Overall, enjoyable if a little out dated.
The better stories in this collection weren't about time travel though, like the whimsical Bradbury-style "Home Alone" about a bored guy home alone while his wife and kid are away. He decides to build a hot air balloon and go floating across the city at night, picking up a housewife neighbour on the way. Of the time travel stories, one about a teenager travelling in time using a classic car he builds himself reminded me of Back to the Future.
My favourites: The Coin Collector where a guy travels to an alternate universe on the flip of a coin, and Face in the Photo about a detective who discovers missing criminals in old photos (nice twist to this one), and Of Missing Persons (misleading title) about a travel agency that sends people to a utopia on another planet (good twist in this one too) but not really time travel. "Lunch Hour Magic" with its junk shop (Needful Things) xray glasses and love potions was a bit cringeworthy.
The stories do have one thing in common: escape from the everyday.
Overall, enjoyable if a little out dated.
June 12, 2014
Wow. Fantastic. His style is very familiar to me. I'd read Invasion of the Body Snatchers over 10 years ago, and I enjoyed it, but this is incredible. Now I will have to read his "Time and Again" series. That might be the first time that I ever read a collection of short stories straight through like that, in a matter of a few days. I want to make a few of them into movies, of course. They would be beautiful!
I first read about these when I was a teenager in one of my favorite books, Stephen King's Danse Macabre. I re-read the section on Jack Finney just now, and it is astounding that he really had nothing to do with the original Twilight Zone television series, seeing as how his writing is so very Twilight Zone in its themes and approach, and how these were published a few years before Serling's show. The Twilight Zone is my favorite TV show, and reading this collection of stories was like discovering wonderful new episodes, or like I was reading the inspiration for most of the shows!
I first read about these when I was a teenager in one of my favorite books, Stephen King's Danse Macabre. I re-read the section on Jack Finney just now, and it is astounding that he really had nothing to do with the original Twilight Zone television series, seeing as how his writing is so very Twilight Zone in its themes and approach, and how these were published a few years before Serling's show. The Twilight Zone is my favorite TV show, and reading this collection of stories was like discovering wonderful new episodes, or like I was reading the inspiration for most of the shows!
July 22, 2015
If all of the stories included were actually about time, I'm sure I would have given this five stars; those stories were generally just what I was looking for from the author of one of my favourite books. But the few stories included which strayed a little from this unifying thread tended to be a bit misogynistic and dated.
I love the wistful longing for the wonders of the past that permeate Finney's time travel tales. While I may skip one or two upon re-reading, this book is definitely going to stay on my shelf.
I love the wistful longing for the wonders of the past that permeate Finney's time travel tales. While I may skip one or two upon re-reading, this book is definitely going to stay on my shelf.
September 13, 2013
First of all, I love a well crafted short story. The glitter forever like the tiny gems they are. I also love it when a town, a location, is elevated to the status of a character in a story. As Jo Rowling did with Hogwarts so has Jack Finney done with Galesburg Illinois in two of his stories "I Love Galesburg in the Springtime" and "The Third Level." Some themes are reworked in more than one story, but not in a boring way. It was a really nice day's reading.
June 4, 2020
What a fun little book! Each chapter so very different from the last even though they all revolve around the same theme of time travel. I have been fascinated with time travel since watching Back to the Future as a kid, so these were right down my alley. Each short story has a twist or a surprise ending, but they don’t leave you feeling shocked or disappointed - it’s more of a warm, fuzzy quirkinesses as each chapter comes to a close.
September 28, 2017
3.5- most of these felt like the raw material for The Twilight Zone (with good reason), 1950s sci-fi escapism (even though they weren't published until the late 80s). They weren't the most amazing things I'd ever read, but they kept me entertained.
December 1, 2020
An excellent collection of time travel stories - I found nine of them to be stellar. (Caveat: As with Heinlein, the reader must overlook the chauvinistic attitudes of the 1950s and 1960s and enjoy them within their era ... an exercise in mental time travel.)
October 13, 2020
These stories gave me goosebumps! I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
July 31, 2017
I read the first three stories, and although a pleasant diversion, they were all filled with a kind of dreamy nostalgia for olden times that wore on me after a while. (His novel is the same kind of thing, but was elevated a bit by the historical research and time travel cleverness). The stories here were clever (I like the idea about the "mysterious couple"), but again, they were merely pleasant and didn't pull me in with any tension or plot conflicts.
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