Time And Chance [Mass Market Paperback]

Alan Brennert (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates (1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812531884
• ISBN-13: 978-0812531886
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,847,554 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Alan Brennert is the author of the best-selling historical novels MOLOKA'I and HONOLULU, as well as the contemporary novels TIME AND CHANCE and KINDRED SPIRITS. He has also written short stories, teleplays, screenplays, and the libretto of a stage musical, WEIRD ROMANCE, with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by David Spencer. His work on the television series L.A. LAW earned him an Emmy Award in 1991, and his short story "Ma Qui" was honored with a Nebula Award in 1992.
Born in Englewood, New Jersey, he has lived since 1973 in Southern California. He holds a Bachelor's degree in English from California State University at Long Beach, and also did graduate work in screenwriting at UCLA.
His latest novel, HONOLULU, grew out of the research he did for MOLOKA'I. "One of the most colorful periods of modern Hawaiian history was the so-called 'glamour days' of the 1920s and 1930s," Alan explains. "This was a time period I couldn't really explore in depth in MOLOKA'I, since my main characters were in isolation at Kalaupapa. These were the years when Hawai'i made its deepest impression on the American consciousness: the years of Matson liners, the China Clipper, Hollywood celebrities vacationing in Honolulu, and the Hawai'i Calls radio show that broadcasted popular hapahaole music to the mainland. Yet at the same time this image of paradise was being presented to the American public, many Native Hawaiians and immigrants to Hawai'i labored on plantations for low wages or lived in poverty in Honolulu tenements. So HONOLULU, the novel, is partly about this collision of image and reality...and how that reality was actually far richer and more captivating."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deserves a screen play!, April 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Time and Chance (Hardcover)

Time and Chance. The title alone fills the mind with excitement and wonder. Brennert's idea is captivating, unusual, and makes you think. It makes you wonder What if I did one thing, and not the other? What if I chose one but later in life I can go back and change my decision? You go through life and you wonder what would happen if you left a minute earlier- Would you have been involved in that accident? This novel gives you that sense of uneasiness that is so great. The character "Richard" is the perfect person to work this rounabout with...

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great read from Alan Brennert, October 5, 2011

By 

Ramona Lombard - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Time and Chance (Kindle Edition)

After reading Moloka'i and Honolulu by Alan Brennert, I wanted to see if he had any other books available. Imagine my pleasure at finding two of his earlier works, Kindred Spirits and Time and Chance. Both Kindred Spirits and Time and Chance are very different from his latest books Moloka'i and Honolulu. While Moloka'i and Honolulu each give us pieces of history of real locations in an entertaining (and educational) read, Kindred Spirits and Time and Chance take us out of the 'real' world and transport us into places not yet proven by science.

Time and Chance is a fun read while provoking thoughts of wonder. Alan Brennert pulls you into the plot with glimpses of what's to come. Then, when we are aware of what's happening, Time and Chance is a page turner to see what's coming next. I could hardly wait to see how it would end, while at the same time not wanting the enjoyment of reading it to be over.
Time and Chance spoke to me, causing me to examine my life and wanting to live it more fully and happily. We are the choices that we make and we can always choose something new and different. This book gave me insight into the endless possibilities that are always available. I laughed and I cried while enjoying this read into contemplation.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Alan Brennert's Time and Chance, December 11, 2011

By 

Lucy Sterling - See all my reviews

This review is from: Time and Chance (Paperback)

I always loved the Twilight Zone because of the impossible places it could take my imagination. Turns out Alan Brennert, who wrote for the new TZ, has that gift of taking us beyond our expectations and spinning a mind-bending, entertaining and thought-provoking yarn.

I was fascinated by the premise of Time and Chance, where the main character, Richard, is given the chance to switch lives with himself in a reality he has already created by having taken a different turn in time, which happens to be equally miserable to the life he's already living.

Brennert stirringly and skillfully tells the stories of parallel universes; I couldn't imagine how Richard and Rick could pull off the switch believably, much less how they would resolve the disasters/transformations they were creating in each other's lives. I found myself compellingly engaged and unexpectedly moved by the masterful unfolding of this tale of redemption and hard-earned wisdom; the destructive power of guilt vs the healing power of true love, courage and self-forgiveness. There is humor and truth in his telling.

I highly recommend this brilliant and original page-turner which I, too, think would make a great film. I also highly recommend Alan Brennert's most recent and beautifully written historical novels, Moloka'i and Honolulu. I look forward to reading more of his works!