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A Shortcut in Time
by Charles Dickinson
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Forge Books (2004-01-17)
ISBN: 0765306395
EAN: 9780765306395
Dewey Decimal #: 813.54
Paperback: 288 pages
SKU: 01DB-039-7-0108
Condition: VG
Comments: Clean copy, no markings by previous owners; Covers show very minor shelfwear; Very little age-toning; Corners and ends of spine lightly bumped; Tight copy. *International Buyers Welcome!* (except for prohibitively heavy items, as noted) - Satisfied customers in over 40 countries! We ship quickly and guarantee satisfaction. Your purchase helps support a U. Chicago student
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
Charles Dickinson's novels and short stories have won widespread acclaim for their deft characterization, humanity, and humor. Newsday described him as "a writer thoroughly in command of his art," while the Chicago Tribune wrote "he can surprise us at almost every turn."
Now Dickinson slips beyond the bounds of mundane realism to create a poignant fantasy that bears comparison to the work of Jack Finney and Jonathan Carroll.
Euclid, Illinois, is a town of many shortcuts, between houses, through orchards, and across fields. Josh Winkler, a local artist and longtime resident, knows these irregular pathways well, but is thoroughly taken aback when a hasty dash down a familiar walk deposits him fifteen minutes in the past--literally. At first, Josh is more intrigued than alarmed by this accidental time travel. Then a lost young woman appears, claiming to be from 1908 . . . .
As his life, his family, his town, and even history itself begin to unravel, Josh gradually realizes that his only salvation may lie in A Shortcut Time.
Charles Dickinson has written a moving and unforgettable book about the way the past can affect the present as well as, sometimes, the other way around.
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Customer Reviews
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Don't blink....
Rating  (2)
Date: 2007-04-26
3 out of 5 customers found this reveiw helpful
This book was entertaining but it's sad ending overshadowed the storyline.
It made me think... what? Don't blink at the end or you'll miss it. I went back and reread the last few pages a couple of times hoping that I had missed something but alas, that is how it ends. It's too bad because it really was good up to that point. I would not recommend this book.
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A Shortcut in Time
Rating (2)
Date: 2007-01-20
4 out of 5 customers found this reveiw helpful
Based on the reviews I read here in Amazon, I decided to check this book out of the library. I liked it quite a bit while I was reading it and even recommended it to my sister. We both happened to finish the book on the same day and spoke on the phone that night. It seems we had the exact same reaction when it came to the last page: "Is that it?!!??'.
It was SUCH an unsatisfying ending (the worse I've ever come across) that I even checked to make sure no pages were torn from the book.
I gave it two stars instead of one because I didn't hate the book, just the very last page.
One I'd recommend strongly is Jack Finney's book Time and Again. I started on that after A Shortcut in Time. It's a fiction novel but includes drawings of late 1800 New York City done by the main character in the book.
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Great story, unsatisfying conclusion
Rating  (4)
Date: 2006-10-03
3 out of 5 customers found this reveiw helpful
As others mention, any fan of Jack Finny's TIME AND AGAIN will enjoy A SHORTCUT IN TIME. It's a fine example of a story with a strong narrative drive which keeps one turning pages in anticipation of something happens.
The work is flawed by an unsatisfying ending, with the protagonist's marriage replaced by a marriage to another woman in an alternate future. This is fine for those who speculate on the conseqences of changing the past, but dumping wife #1, with whom the reader has invested some rapport, and replacing her in the last few pages with wife #2, whom the reader doesn't have enough time to care about is not good storytelling. When the lost daughter is finally recovered, there are questions left unanswered, and the reader is left with an unsettling lack of closure. One senses the writer just said the hell with it and arbitrarily finished the story.
Had this been a conventional novel, I would have rated it two stars because of these plot flaws, and the pedestrian character voices. But stll I kept turning the pages because I wanted to see what happened--and that's basically what a book like this is about.
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A Must Read for Time Travel fans
Rating  (5)
Date: 2006-06-16
5 out of 5 customers found this reveiw helpful
It took me three months to read Time and Again by Jack Finney, which I liked but it was a long haul. A Shortcut in Time cranked at record speed. I read it in two days - could not put it down! I'm a huge fan of time travel books with The Mirror and The Time Traveler's Wife as two of my favorites. A Shortcut in Time has quickly been added to my favorites list. What a great find. What a great read. Extremely well written. I loved this book!
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NO Stars - Disappointing
Rating  (1)
Date: 2006-05-25
4 out of 9 customers found this reveiw helpful
The premise of the story is good - time travel, back and forth. The characters are weak and unbelievable. They don't speak to each other in a normal way - and the girl from 1908 is totally stiff. The ending was so disappointing that I threw the book on a chair and when I came back my puppy had torn it to shreds --- that was the best ending for this farse of a piece of literature. Save your money for something else.
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