Have you ever wished you could relive moments from your past with the knowledge and wisdom you have now? I think everyone has fantasized about this to a certain extent. It could be as minor as wishing you'd made a better comeback in a argument to making different decisions at major forks in the road of your life. I think about this a lot, to be quite honest. I'm very happy with where my life is now, but I can't help but be tempted by the thought of going back in time to take different courses of action, be they simple or major. In the 1987 novel Replay, author Ken Grimwood explores what would happen to a person who was forced to relive a large chunk of his life, in his younger body and with all of his memories and consciousness intact. I'd seen the novel mentioned in a handful of 'best sci-fi novels' lists on YouTube and was so intigued by the premise that Replay jumped right to the top of my 'to be read' queue. I'm not a fast reader, but I cruised through this one in just a few days. So is this time-jumping tale worth your valuable time? Continue reading to find out.



Our main character Jeff Winston is (like the author was) a broadcast journalist. In 1988 at the age of 43 his life is not working out the way he had imagined. He finds little passion in his career and childless marriage. Within the first three pages of the novel, his uninspired existence comes to an abrupt end due to cardiac arrest, mid conversation on a phone call with his wife. Jeff is dead. Then he is alive again. He has awakened in his college dorm room in 1963, confused as he comes to and encounters his roommate, who Jeff knows will go on to commit suicide years later. Once Jeff gets his bearings, he needs to decide what to do. One of the things I love about this novel is that the author has Jeff act smartly but not omnisciently. He sells his car and bets on the Kentucky Derby to raise some money, because he remebers the upset winner that year. He knows his horse didn't take the Triple Crown, but cannot remember which was the other race he won so he doesn't bet on the horses again, instead putting it all on the World Series. If this sounds familiar, keep in mind Back to the Future Part II had not been released when this book was written.

Securing vast amounts of money with pre-knowledge of sports or other events where the outcome can be wagered might be the first thing you or I would think to do in Jeff's situation, so I like that Grimwood got this out of the way from the beginning. From here the stage is set for Jeff to try to figure out why he is 'replaying' his past. The author does a great job having Jeff be relatable to the reader. He is intelligent and sensible, but not some kind of genius. Even on this replay of his life, knowing to a certain extent what major historical events will happen, he makes mistakes and miscalculations in his actions. In the loneliness of his situation, for example, he falls into an unsavory lifestyle of sex and drugs at certain points in the novel. Speaking of which, the sex scenes in this book are the only thing I really didn't like, as they are a little dated and dare I say 'cringey.'


The book, which was written in the mid-eighties, is filled with pop-culture and historical references from the 1960s through the 1980s. It's almost like a boomer version of Ready Player One, and here I use boomer in the most literal sense, as Jeff is one by the technical definition. The difference between Replay and Ready Player One with regards to the references, is that here they are used sparingly as plot devices or to color the scenery, so to speak. They are also amazingly well selected overall, meaning surprisingly few of them are dated in an uncomfortable way (a reference to OJ Simpson for his prowess on the gridiron is one example that comes to mind), and many of them (like a scene involving Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak), can still be widely recognized and understood by the average reader in 2020.

What surprised me about this book is that it isn't just a fun romp through time. Grimwood examines what would happen psychologically and emotionally to someone who had to live his life again. It isn't all fun and games, and I found myself relating to Jeff quite strongly through the highs and lows of his lives. The human element comes through in this novel almost as strongly as the works of one of my favorite authors, Haruki Murakami. There is a great balance between action and character development, and both are very elegantly expressed through the writing.

Replay will make your mind wander thinking about what you might do in Jeff's situation. It may inspire you to use your time in more valuable ways. No matter what you take from it, it is a substantive, lucidly written page-turner that I would recommend to pretty much anyone. Used paperback copies can be found cheaply on the internet. Have you ever read or heard of this novel? What other sci-fi hidden gems would you recommend?

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