This is a novel by the author of another novel I enjoyed, Molok'i, but in no way like that novel. This novel addresses the question "what would have happen if I had chosen a different path?" Richard a New York City stage and television actor has a sucessful career but is still not satisfied with his life. Rick is employed by as an insurance claims adjuster, has a wife and two children and has a moderately comfortable life. Richard and Rick are the the same person. They just happen to take different paths in their life. Through a strange fluke in time they meet and decide to trade lives.

Scott C reviewed this for the Lincoln City Libraries' web site in March 2004: http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts...

I feel like I didn't give this book the attention it deserved. Because of that I may have missed some deeper messages and was instead bit bored.

I bought this book at the annual book sale maybe seven years ago. I bought it because the synopsis at the back compared it with The Time Traveler's Wife, a book I at the time had not read nor watched the movie adaption of. Still haven't read the book but have seen the movie a couple of times.

This book is about a man, or two versions of the same man, who at one point in his life took different directions. In one life he's Richard, a very talented actor but not much going on other aspect in his life. Some friends and failed romantic relationships. In another life he's Rick, married with kids and stuck with a job he hates (something boring with insurance I think). Both versions are very unhappy, and Rick letting it go over his family. He's got so much pent up anger and frustration he's taking it out on his family: his marriage is failing to the point where divorce is around the corner and he can't even keep his jealousy of his daughter for going for an acting career hidden. His frustration and anger also boils over in physical violence.

Both men meet and decide upon changing life. What if Richard could see what his life would have been if he had stayed with Debra, and what if Rick had pursued his acting dream? The book pretty much explore that, and what challenges each of the man meet in their new lifestyle, and about self discovery. Not going to discuss what they face and how they deal with it because I think it's better to discover for yourself if you decide to read this book.

Richard has made a considerably good name of himself on Broadway and yet, he is alone with a string of failed relationships behind him. When his mum died, he felt more alone than ever and regrets of not being there with him took him on a path he never knew existed...

Rick chose to stay with Debra and now works at a job he disliked but needed for his family's sake. He loves his family but his anger at all the past what-ifs are driving him out of his mind...

These alternate selves swapped lives to see their own what-ifs realised only to find that no matter what, they are still the same person though it took some hard lessons for them to learn.

A fascinating read even if not a unique trope though I realised this was published in 1990 and wondered if it was a first then? While I mostly enjoyed the story and the lesson they learnt, there was one thing I found crucial for which I found no answer...

One character's reflection found that he would never have hit a particular female character and that's fine and good. BUT what about the other female character he actually hit?!

A book written by the author of Molakai in the 1990's.

I thought the book had an interesting subject, but I felt the characters were a little flat.

I picked up this book because I loved Moloka'i and Honolulu. With this story the major plot points felt too easy, which made it hard to suspend belief and fully engage in the story. A few of the major characters were despicable and there were too many with brief appearances that blended together.

Excellent read! If you like the idea of a parallel universe, you will like this.

I loved the author's other books, Molok'ai and Honolulu, so I knew I would appreciate the writing, however this wasn't as riveting. It's an interesting concept to see how one's life would be different had we made different choices. Brennart made me care about his character, and I liked the homage made to Finney, one of my favorite authors of time travel. I do recommend this. It made me think about, appreciate, and occasionally forgive myself for, the choices I've made.

Our book club choice. A science-fiction tale of two men swapping the same life. Very sweet.

If you love this, then go to Dark Matter, a more intense, violent depiction of alternative worlds. This is very good, a good I love to read over and over, what if you had chosen door A instead of B

I read this book, because I wanted to read a book written by Alan Brennert. His book Moloka'i has been highly praised. Unfortunately the public library in my area, doesn't have this book in its shelves. So I opted to read another book by this author, namely "Time and Chance." This book was written before Moloka'i, so my disappointment isn't too great. His writing could've only gotten better since "Time and Chance."

The story sounds interesting; the protagonist could've lived two different lives: either choose to move to New York and become a Broadway star (acting is his passion) or marry his college-sweetheart (whom he also got pregnant), raise a family and work a daytime job in an office. Both end up not really satisfied with their lives, and the chance to live the other "if only"-life seems like an excellent solution to their problems. However, I thought the story was a bit cheesy and overall, too unrealistic, that I didn't enjoy reading it.

The only thing which was fairly interesting was the description of how a play gets started from scratch before hitting the stage. That was written very passionately and I could understand it: on the one side, putting all your effort to the play, bringing yourself to be the role you have to play, stage production, make up and on the other side, the feeling of loneliness which comes, after the very last show, and deprivation, when parting with your co-workers with whom you had to work to create something so meaningful to you.

I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. Unless you're interested in the plot, but the story lacks something "surprising." I can only pray Moloka'i is better than this.

Well over a year ago, a friend gave me this book to read. I put it aside to get to when I could focus on it. At first scan, it seemed a literary work - which I don't normally read much of - so I put it aside until I was in the right place to focus on it.

The last few days were those days, and once I got into the book, I got deep into it. It's a parallel universe story in which Richard and Rick - same guy, different lives - step into each other's lives. This is not a surprise switch triggered by a paranormal event. It's deliberate, and their assumed lives hold extra troubles and triumphs as the story unfolds told in both Richard's and Rick's points of view.

This book I've had on my shelf for so long is now a book I won't forget. Thanks, D!