Fort Worth Star Telegram Logo

‘All Our Wrong Todays’ imagines a dark tomorrow | Fort Worth Star-Telegram

×
  • E-edition
    • Customer Service
    • Mobile & Apps
    • Newsletters

    • Local
    • Fort Worth
    • Arlington
    • Northeast Tarrant
    • Texas
    • Crime & Courts
    • Politics
    • Elections
    • Bud Kennedy
    • Databases
    • Nation and World
    • Cowboys
    • Rangers
    • TCU
    • Mac Engel
    • Colleges
    • Mavericks
    • Motorsports
    • Stars
    • High School Sports
    • Scores & Schedules
    • All Sports
    • Football
    • Baseball
    • Softball
    • Volleyball
    • Boys Basketball
    • Girls Basketball
    • Editorials
    • Letters
    • Submit a letter
    • Cheers and Jeers
    • Submit a Cheer or Jeer
    • Bud Kennedy
    • Michael Ryan
    • Cynthia M. Allen
    • Other Voices
    • Business
    • Growth
    • Restaurants
    • Arts & Culture
    • Movies
    • Things To Do
    • Music
    • Nightlife
    • Party Pics
    • Horoscopes
    • Comics
    • Contests
    • Puzzles and Games
    • Food & Drink
    • Arts
    • Health & Fitness
    • Indulge
    • The Keller Magazine
    • Neil Sperry
    • Social Eyes
    • Dear Abby
    • Weddings
    • Arlington Citizen-Journal
    • Keller Citizen
    • Star-Telegram Northeast
    • Mansfield News-Mirror
    • Weatherford Star-Telegram
    • La Estrella
    • Locales
    • Noticias
    • Deportes
    • Entretenimiento
    • Contáctenos
    • Media Kit
    • Today's Obituaries
    • Obituaries in the News
    • Submit an Obituary

    • All Weddings
    • Announcements
    • Bridal Show
    • Contact Us
    • Inspiration
    • News & Advice
    • Vendors
    • Hispanic Heritage
    • Cancer Awareness
    • Healthy Lifestyle
    • Dining, Entertaining
    • Breast Cancer Awareness
    • Think Green
    • Money Matters
    • All About Pets
    • Careers and Business
    • Health and Wellness
    • How To...
    • Women Today
    • Family and Parenting
    • Easy Living Tips
    • Lawn and Garden
    • Giving Back
    • Men Today
    • On the Road 1
    • On the Road 2
  • Public Notices
  • Local Deals
  • Cars
  • Jobs
  • Moonlighting
  • Homes
  • Classifieds
  • Mobile & Apps

Books

‘All Our Wrong Todays’ imagines a dark tomorrow

Tom Barren, ne’er-do-well time traveler, is to blame for everything.

In “All Our Wrong Todays,” a fun and funny debut novel from Canadian screenwriter Elan Mastai, we discover that he is the reason we do not live in a technologically advanced and enlightened utopia.

On Monday, July 11, 2016, Tom hopped in his genius dad’s prototype time machine, traveled five decades into the past and changed a pivotal event in world history.

Then, he returned to 2016 to find everything different, to find a dystopia.

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to the Star-Telegram

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

But here’s the twist: That dystopia is the world that we, readers of Mastai’s book, live in.

Turns out he robbed us of the futuristic Jetsons-style lifestyle we should be enjoying, one that comes with “flying cars, robot maids, food pills, teleportation, jet packs, moving sidewalks, ray guns, hover boards, space vacations and moon bases.”

The author — best known for writing The F Word, a 2013 romantic comedy that starred Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan — found inspiration for All Our Wrong Todays in his grandfather’s library.

“When I was growing up, there was a bookshelf in my grandparents’ house and lining it were old science-fiction paperbacks from the 1950s and 1960s,” Mastai says in press materials. “I was fascinated by them, especially the lurid, colorfully painted covers depicting imagined planets and imagined futures.

“Even as a child, I knew there was a disconnect between the future these magazines depicted and the actual real world I lived in. I wondered what had gone wrong. When I sat down to write All Our Wrong Todays, I did it with that collection of old pulp sci-fi on the shelf next to my desk.”

So, can Tom Barren, who’s not the brightest star in the galaxy, figure out a way to fix the flow of history and bring back the “better” 2016?

Only time will tell.

David Martindale, Special to the Star-Telegram

All Our Wrong Todays

  • By Elan Mastai
  • Dutton, $26

  Comments  

Videos

Kyler Murray says he picked football over baseball because he loves it

Woodward says big part of first speech was “the belief”

View More Video

Trending Stories

When are we getting an H-E-B? The answer’s complicated

February 18, 2019 12:00 AM

Update: Man was killed in north Fort Worth neighborhood, not by Dairy Queen, report says

February 17, 2019 10:12 AM

‘Threat to democracy:’ Trump’s national emergency draws angry crowd in Fort Worth

February 18, 2019 02:30 PM

In-depth Q&A with ex Rangers manager Banister: ‘It’s on me. Absolutely. That was on me’

February 18, 2019 06:00 AM

Top Class 6A softball players in Dallas-Fort Worth to watch during the 2019 season

February 18, 2019 12:00 PM

Read Next

A dinosaur, a llama and even an alligator can help little ones wind down at bedtime

Books

A dinosaur, a llama and even an alligator can help little ones wind down at bedtime

By Dawn Guest Special to the Star-Telegram

    ORDER REPRINT →

January 18, 2019 10:00 AM

Fort Worth Texas librarian recommends perfect books for helping a child wind down at the end of the day and get ready for sleep. Bedtime stories can become a treasured part of family life for parents and kids.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to the Star-Telegram

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE BOOKS

How does playing with children help them get ready to read?

Books

How does playing with children help them get ready to read?

December 24, 2018 10:00 AM
Where does the magic happen? For young readers, it’s often the public library

Books

Where does the magic happen? For young readers, it’s often the public library

December 14, 2018 12:14 PM
Fort Worth novelist’s book tells the story of a woman high school football coach in 1944

Books

Fort Worth novelist’s book tells the story of a woman high school football coach in 1944

October 02, 2018 11:49 AM
Start with these first books to discover the next great young adult series

Books

Start with these first books to discover the next great young adult series

August 22, 2018 12:34 PM
For Amon G. Carter III, a Lucky find and a lesson on life and giving

Bud Kennedy

For Amon G. Carter III, a Lucky find and a lesson on life and giving

July 07, 2018 03:29 PM
Julia Heaberlin takes readers on a dark ride in ‘Paper Ghosts’

Books

Julia Heaberlin takes readers on a dark ride in ‘Paper Ghosts’

May 10, 2018 11:51 AM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
Advertising
  • Information
  • Place a Classified
Copyright
Commenting Policy
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story