Remembrance of Things Forgotten

In this hilarious novel, comic book dealer John Sherkston flees 2006 in a time machine invented by his boyfriend, renowned physicist Taylor Esgard. His destination: 1961. His goal: purchasing thirty copies of Spiderman no. 1 (worth thirty grand apiece) to finance the breakup of his fourteen-year relationship with Taylor—a nice guy turned staunch Republican. But things go deliciously wrong when the machine malfunctions and sends John back to 1986 where he meets—and gets hit on by—himself at age twenty-six.

Seizing the opportunity to team up with "Junior" to prevent their sister's suicide—and stop George W. Bush from becoming president—John comes middle-aged face to twenty-something face with his past and must decide whether or not to intervene and spare his younger self from all the bad fashions, lousy jobs, and dud boyfriends of the last two decades. Should he let the bad news stop with his baldness, or should he clue Junior in to the devastating losses, embarrassing secret screen names, and the news that money will still be a problem when he's forty-six? In this wickedly funny and thought-provoking trek, John confronts his (and our country's) blunders, and learns that having a second chance to change your life means having new and improved opportunities to make things worse—and maybe even better.

The best-known gay stand-up comedian in the country (with appearances on The Tonight Show, HBO, and Politically Incorrect), Bob Smith's first novel Selfish and Perverse garnered praise from such funny people as Armistead Maupin, Stephen McCauley, and David Rakoff.