The End As I Know It: A Novel of Millennial Anxiety (Hardcover)

by Kevin Shay (Author)
Key Phrases: Kevin Shay, San Francisco, New York City (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Former McSweeney's online editor Shay travels in his debut novel to the now-stale heart of late-'90s political hysteria and pre-millennial angst. The "end" of the title refers to the End of the World as We Know It (TEOTWAWKI for short), the global meltdown that is to occur as a result of the unchecked Y2K computer crisis. Randall Knight, a former elementary school teacher, quits his job and tours the country as a roving puppeteer, hoping to make others believe in the impending computer-related doomsday. Shay puts the reader in the quixotic situation of rooting for a protagonist whose every action is in the service of a supremely puerile cause; as Randall crisscrosses the U.S. in search of allies, running headlong from his own problems into the maw of an imagined global catastrophe, it's hard not to feel his pain (in the words of another presence whose then-current impeachment trial haunts this book). If the book ends with more of a whimper than a bang, perhaps that is only to be expected in a novel about an impending but never-arriving tragedy. (Dec.)
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Review
Praise for The End as I Know It

“The End as I Know It is a smart, funny, disturbing and, yes, charming novel that had me waxing nostalgic for the not-so-long-ago days when a simple digital anomaly was the only thing vying for attention in the pantheon of Things That Scare the Living Crap Out of Me.”
—James P. Othmer, author of The Futurist

“Kevin Shay brilliantly mines tension from the gap between the fears of 1999 and the reality of Y2K, and he does it with incredible humor and heart. The End as I Know It is a funny, profound, effortless book.”
—Kevin Guilfoile, author of Cast of Shadows --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday (December 26, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385518218
• ISBN-13: 978-0385518215
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,502,497 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Laughing Towards the End of the World, March 20, 2007

By	Brett Goldman (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Alfred Hitchcock once described the difference between shock and suspense as having a bomb suddenly go off without the viewer knowing its existence first (shock) to revealing the bomb to the viewer pre-explosion (suspense). Inherent in Mr. Shay's hilarious novel is the bomb (the Year 2000's impending digital doom) that we all know never detonated. So how can readers be engaged when the know the ultimate result is a fizzle that barely caused a burp in our daily lives?

The secret to ths book's success is in Mr. Shay's timeless characters and situations. Replace the year 2000 with Avian Flu, Global Warming, the threat of the Cold War, the Atom Bomb, or any End of the World scenario that has plagued us for generations - the threat is irrelevant. All that matters is Randall, our narrator, and his Gen-X, Gen-Y, Gen-whatever struggle to make something of his life. He battles clueless relatives and annoyed friends in his pursuit to "save" them from catastrophe. Yet he skewers other conspiracists who, to him, take their beliefs too far. In other words, to bastardize Groucho Marx, he doesn't want to belong to the only club that will actually have him as a member.

So we root for Randall as he watches the ticking clock and wrestles with his fears. That he also plays absurd children's songs at elementary schools with the help of some double-entendre named puppets adds to our pathos, and the novel's ample humour.

Mr. Shay gives us a narrator we can't trust, probably wouldn't befriend, and at times want to strangle for chucking away what's good in his life. But then, we all have Y2Ks to worry about, while others stare in wonder at our insistent ignorance to ignore the simple truths they all can see.

Hitchcock would have been proud at the trick here - that the supposed purpose for the book, the time bomb, is not nearly as important as the mirror the author holds up for us to observe. Warts and all, we have a blast doing it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Imaginative and funny, February 14, 2007

By	Steve Benoff (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Kevin Shay is an excellent writer. Which is all the more important given the subject matter; we all know, of course, that the world didn't end in Y2K. Add to that the protagonist being a puppeteer.
Shay is witty and creative and even manages to create some tension along the way.
This book is an easy read and very easy to enjoy.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining and true to life, December 31, 2006

By	LikeToRead (OLNEY, MD USA) - See all my reviews

I enjoyed reading this book. Through the eyes of protagonist, Randall, Kevin Shay amuses with tales of contemporary life that resonate. An often slow reader, I finished ... The End ... in a couple of days.