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Everything Matters!

by Ron Currie Jr. (Goodreads Author)

3.98 of 5 stars 3.98 · rating details · 3,213 ratings · 603 reviews

In infancy, Junior Thibodeaux is encoded with a prophesy: a comet will obliterate life on Earth in thirty-six years. Alone in this knowledge, he comes of age in rural Maine grappling with the question: Does anything I do matter? While the voice that has accompanied him since conception appraises his choices, Junior's loved ones emerge with parallel stories-his anxious moth...more

Hardcover, 306 pages

Published June 25th 2009 by Viking Adult (first published 2009)

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Sep 04, 2009 Chris rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone!

Shelves: read-in-2009, favorites

At 11:00 a.m. on September 11, 2001, I hailed a cab in front of my office building in Southwest, DC and asked the driver if he would be willing to take me to my house in Northeast, DC. His radio was tuned to an AM talk station and he looked frightened. It appeared that he really wanted to just get the hell out of Dodge but he wasn't sure if this was the sort of event that warranted such a reaction. If this all turned out to be an overreaction or a hoax of some sort, wouldn't he have a tough time...more At 11:00 a.m. on September 11, 2001, I hailed a cab in front of my office building in Southwest, DC and asked the driver if he would be willing to take me to my house in Northeast, DC. His radio was tuned to an AM talk station and he looked frightened. It appeared that he really wanted to just get the hell out of Dodge but he wasn't sure if this was the sort of event that warranted such a reaction. If this all turned out to be an overreaction or a hoax of some sort, wouldn't he have a tough time explaining to his boss why he decided to skip out early that day? I sensed his hesitation and started to move away from his cab, looking for other options. He yelled after me: "Please, please, I'll take you home. I'm sorry. Please get in." As we inched through the city and the people on the radio began to say things like "Washington, DC is under attack!" and "We believe that the White House is the next target!" the cab driver and I couldn't stop exchanging nervous glances through his rear view mirror. As the Capitol Building came into our view, a news alert came over the radio stating that large explosions at the U.S. Capitol Building had been confirmed. He said, "Oh God." I said, "Oh Shit." We didn't take our eyes off the building. I was prepared to witness a real-life version of the scene from Independence Day. Before this day, I was a naive 22-year-old kid who felt that a happy adult life was still ahead of him. In the matter of a few hours, I had become a different version of this 22-year-old kid who couldn't help but wonder what, exactly, was the point of getting up every morning and heading out into a world that had taken on the look and feel of an apocalyptic action movie.

I don't want to bore you with the details of my life since 9/11, but suffice it to say that I used it as a crutch to justify my laziness, my procrastination, my indecision, and, most of all, my inability to form deep connections with other human beings. Weak people are always looking for excuses. I felt that 9/11 was a pretty good excuse.

Which brings me to this book, which challenges you to consider how you would live your life if you knew that thirty-six years, one hundred sixty-eight days, fourteen hours, and twenty-three seconds after the moment you were born, the world would be destroyed by a rogue comet. Does anything really matter?

The book's hero, Junior, is the only person privy to this information and suffers from the day he was born with "the soul-dread caused by knowledge of the impending end of all existence." At one point Junior says: "Oblivion was always just around the corner, so what was the use of, say, trying to make the varsity basketball team, or starting a retirement fund, or having kids, or any of the other things that normal people do?"

This is a simultaneously depressing and uplifting novel that explores the meaning of life with humor, warmth, and passion. What brings it to the 5-star level for me is that it manages to completely avoid the feeling that you've been transported back to your tapestry-covered dorm room with the black lights turned on and you've just gotten high with a bunch of other misanthropes, half of whom you've never met before, who are all trying to use their big brains and their vague philosophical quotes (I believe Nietzsche once said...) to get into the pants of the hot chick who can't wait until all of you stoners pass out so she can walk down the hall and go down on the 3rd-string quarterback who will likely pause his video game only after reaching orgasm so he can grab her a Bud Lite to give her "something to wash that down with."

Do yourself a favor and read this amazing book. (less)

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Sep 22, 2010 Joel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, audiobooks

Picking up a book called Everything Matters! (a book shouted Everything Matters!) turns out to be both a challenge to you, the reader, but also a trap, and a bit of a spoiler.

Because you are being told, nay, implored to Pay Attention! to everything. You don't think that's asking too much of you because the book has such a great premise, which is: what if you (this time I am not referring to you the reader, but the hypothetical you, but specifically, the main character) were born with the terrib...more Picking up a book called Everything Matters! (a book shouted Everything Matters!) turns out to be both a challenge to you, the reader, but also a trap, and a bit of a spoiler.

Because you are being told, nay, implored to Pay Attention! to everything. You don't think that's asking too much of you because the book has such a great premise, which is: what if you (this time I am not referring to you the reader, but the hypothetical you, but specifically, the main character) were born with the terrible, certain foreknowledge that in about 36 years, on a particular day in July, all life on earth would be obliterated by a giant comet? Have you got your attention yet?

We apologize if this is confusing, but you must know, large parts of the book you have chosen to read are written in the second person, from the POV of the all-knowing voice that tells you when the world will end and other things, like an omniscient narrator you (the character again) can hear. This is very annoying to you (reader this time), but it's just something you're going to have to deal with, no matter how tedious it gets. But if anyone who has read the book wants to get into why the second voice sections didn't really work for you, they can engage you in the comments, because you want to avoid excessive spoilers.

So anyway, you more or less enjoy this book, even though it reminds you a lot of Ken Grimwood's Replay, because in the end they are both really arguments for existentialism in a way, but because of the way they are written, it also turns out that large portions of them aren't strictly necessary, which is ok as long as you are enjoying them, but sometimes you do not.

You look up the author on the internet and realize this is his first novel, and he usually writes short fiction. And you are not surprised because a lot of this book, which is told in four or five different voices, feels like short stories strung together into a novel. And you tend not to heart short stories because you waffle in your attention to them sometimes, but here you keep plowing through because it really is a novel. But still, there are these large sections which are basically anecdotes from the past, often for characters who don't really matter to the narrative, never mind what the title is shouting at you. So you enjoy reading about the stoic father's experiences in Vietnam but find the section on preteen cocaine addition somewhat tiring, not to mention the weird torture and interrogation scene toward the end there.

In the end the author tires to convince you that all of the parts of the book you found boring or implausible really did matter in a "what if you went back in time and stepped on a butterfly (or didn't?)" kind of way. But you aren't really buying it, mostly because by that point, especially after the last 50 pages were entirely in second person (I mean really, even this review is annoying you), you were hoping for something a little more original instead of exactly what the title suggested the end would be.

But then you remember the book did keep you engaged for the most part and even when the characters were frustrating they were well drawn and there was some very clever writing, like "her silhouette thin as god's alibi," and the ending gave you a robin's egg-sized lump in your throat even though you found the very same thing so annoying when you netflixed that terrible, terrible Nicholas Cage movie that time. So you give it 3.5 stars. Because that matters too!

No, probably that does not matter.(less)

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Mar 01, 2013 Neil White rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I can't remember the last time a book toed so close to the line between heartrendingly brilliant and just plain cheesy. In the hands of a lesser author this would have been the latter, plain and simple. And while Currie comes dangerously close at times, he always stops short of going over the line to melodramatic cheese. Instead he comes across as a modernist storyteller like Vonnegut - with just enough of a dash of science fiction to allow suspension of disbelief for some of the stranger plot t...more I can't remember the last time a book toed so close to the line between heartrendingly brilliant and just plain cheesy. In the hands of a lesser author this would have been the latter, plain and simple. And while Currie comes dangerously close at times, he always stops short of going over the line to melodramatic cheese. Instead he comes across as a modernist storyteller like Vonnegut - with just enough of a dash of science fiction to allow suspension of disbelief for some of the stranger plot twists and developments.

The novel begins with the central character, "Junior" still in utero, with a disembodied voice (voices?) giving him all sorts of information, including possibly the most important piece of information anyone could ever know - the exact date, time and method of the end of the world. Unfortunately for Junior, this world destroying event is scheduled to occur when he's 36 years old.

Thus the novel's central question is 'born', as it were. When you know exactly what's going to happen and when, what's the point of anything? Does anything really matter? (If you've read the novel's title you can probably guess the answer to this.)

But like life it's the details in between birth and death that really matter, and that's where a great portion of this novel lies - Junior's adventures and misadventures, as well as those of his family & loved ones. (The novel switches between narrators with pretty great effect.)

It's in the middle though, that this novel drags just a bit, and approaches the point where I thought I was watching a Lars von Trier movie instead of reading a novel, things got so damned depressing. But Currie reels things back in from the bring just in time, and ends the novel with a masterful Part 3 conclusion like a gymnast nailing a perfect 10 on a routine that most wouldn't dare attempt. Like I said before, it could have been cheesy to the point of laughter, but I can't really explain it, it just wasn't.

I'd never heard of this guy before a friend loaned me this book, but I'm definitely seeking out anything else of his I can find.(less)

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Jun 02, 2013 Jesse rated it 3 of 5 stars

a solid early novel from that new school of writing that heeds dfw's advice about the new radical being earnestness and an eschewal of irony. the polyphonic structure works well, but the strange reset toward the end seems redundant and didn't seem necessary as the theme was already developed. but the characters were memorable and fun to spend time with (minus their precocity (minor aside: why must every protagonist be precocious, and then have a brother who is earnest, lovable, and humble despit...more

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Oct 05, 2012 Cindy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Oh boy! Have tissues at the ready.

So, you can find the summary easily enough. A fetus, in utero, learns of the world's impending end, from some outside unknown source, and has to live his life with this knowledge. I don't want to reveal much more but, suffice it to say, it's unique in its premise and intriguing. I loved it.

The book is written in two formats-one in the omniscent third person-religious people may believe it's God or a god (I thought it was some alien life form)-and the other is th...more Oh boy! Have tissues at the ready.

So, you can find the summary easily enough. A fetus, in utero, learns of the world's impending end, from some outside unknown source, and has to live his life with this knowledge. I don't want to reveal much more but, suffice it to say, it's unique in its premise and intriguing. I loved it.

The book is written in two formats-one in the omniscent third person-religious people may believe it's God or a god (I thought it was some alien life form)-and the other is this first person narrative, alternating between various characters. All is told chronologically. I loved the style. It kept the novel moving and felt unique.

However, I won't lie. I did find some passages tedious, wishing to move on to find out what happened to other characters. And if you get the gist of the book-you'll realize that EVERYTHING MATTERS, every character, every passage, every choice. It's difficult to accept our mortality but, given that we can't change it, we have to accept and enjoy this one life. This book makes sure you get this reminder if you needed one. It was really emotional and difficult for me to read the cancer passages (my grandfather and uncle passed away from cancer) but it was life, the circle of it.

Anyway, my favorite lines:
"Pick a self. Any self."
"...with infinte choices comes the potential for infinite happiness."
"Everything ends, and Everything matters. Everything matters not in spite of the end of you and all that you love, but because of it. Everythying is all you've got...and after Everything is nothing. So you were wise to welcome Everything, the good and the bad alike, and cling to it all. Gather it in. Seek the meaning in sorrow and don't ever ever turn away, not once, from here until the end. Because it is all the same, it is all unfathomable, and it is all infinitely preferable to the one dreadful alternative."
"And knowing that the only alternative to your grief is the nothingness that's fast approaching, you try to embrace your own sorrow, to be open and empty and let it all pass through you. This is the key, you have learned-to relinquish control, to relinquish the desire for control."
"...that there is no escape and never war, that from the moment two cells combined to become one they were doomed. You wish they [people] understood that there is joy in this fact, greater joy and love in just this one last moment than they experienced in the entirety of their lives...Because even in this last moment there is still Everything, whole galaxies and eons, the sum total of every experience across time...anything, anything, anything is possible."

Thanks Universe and Ron Currie Jr. for the little reminder. :)

(less)

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Aug 09, 2012 Peter rated it 4 of 5 stars

I would like, if I may be so bold, to try a revolutionary new rating system for this particular book. Since the novel I'm reviewing is divided into three distinct "Parts," I would like to rate each of these individual parts separately (!!!!!!!).

This isn't just because I'm bored of giving a book only one rating (though, truth be told, I am sort of bored of doing that) but because I had very different reactions to each of the three sections.

So here goes:

PART 1 -- RATING: 4 Stars

It's hard not to...more

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Jun 18, 2012 Stacey rated it 5 of 5 stars

Imagine being born with the knowledge of exactly when and how the world will end. The voices in your head tell you this. You can't tell anyone because, frankly, you know how nuts this sounds. But the voices tell you other true things, so you believe them. How do you live your life normally? What does anything matter--love, success, relationships, baseball--if it will all be over and gone by the time you're 36 anyway? And seriously, are you crazy or what?

The book follows Junior, who is faced with...more

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May 25, 2012 Denzil Pugh rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A modern Candide. Voltaire used his episodic tale of misery and woe to demonstrate that happiness can never really be found, not until the very end, when the main characters all live in a shack and tend a garden outside. Living life is the only true happiness that mankind can have, and no amount of philosophical reasoning, or wealth, or fame, can ever get him that status. Except that's not the book I'm here to review.

I love apocalyptic books. I can remember reading When Worlds Collide by Wylie...more A modern Candide. Voltaire used his episodic tale of misery and woe to demonstrate that happiness can never really be found, not until the very end, when the main characters all live in a shack and tend a garden outside. Living life is the only true happiness that mankind can have, and no amount of philosophical reasoning, or wealth, or fame, can ever get him that status. Except that's not the book I'm here to review.

I love apocalyptic books. I can remember reading When Worlds Collide by Wylie and Balmer at Band Camp, laying on the couch in the building next to our cabin and loving every minute of the book (well, the comfy couch and air conditioning helped.) There's nothing like the end of the world, and Currie's book is all about that. Except, the main character, Junior Thibodeax, has known all his life that the world will end on a certain day in the future, and it's the alien voices' experiment to see whether the knowledge of impending doom has any impact on his life. Whether, in a world where nothing matters, if anything matters at all. Starting with a blow by blow of his deliverance in the hospital, to his destruction by asteroid (maybe), the book details his life with a sardonic irony and humor that is quite entertaining. With Junior's knowledge and intelligence he sets out to save the human race, trying to fight the prediction that everyone will die in a gigantic fireball.

However, whether he succeeds or not, we aren't really sure, because the aliens come to him right before the end date and explain to him something he already knew... that the Earth he lived on is only one of millions of possibilities in a multiverse separated only by a sliver of a second. That basically there is a ring around the sun of different realities, and in each of those Earths, Junior makes a different decision, from not squashing a bug to not telling his big secret to his girlfriend, which effects the outcome of the world tremendously. It's the whole butterfly in the Sahara theory. A bit of a spoiler, but, the ending chapters are considerably different than the rest, and nothing much happens, but in the end, Junior's realization that Everything Matters proves the aliens wrong in their original assumption, and proves Voltaire right.(less)

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Feb 26, 2012 Mar rated it 4 of 5 stars

I happened upon this book as I fumbled across one of the many sale tables at 2nd and Charles. The cover art and the title jumped out at me and the cover page alone had enough critic praise to get anybody's attention. I then realized I had read another of Currie's books, God Is Dead, and had found it to be very interesting. I just finished this book and I thought it to be very well done. He brings up a lot of issues but ones which, when discussed at point blank range, seem to get negative or argu...more

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Nov 05, 2011 Ryan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fic-weird, fic-speculative, fic-literary

One thing I'll say about Everything Matters is that its plot messed with my expectations. Not that I had a lot of expectations about a novel that opened with disembodied voices telling a developing fetus that the world would end in 36 years, but Currie's story of a typical American life with a few very untypical things about it dodges easy categorization. It's neither magic realism, nor science fiction, nor a supernatural tale, but more of an earnest existential drama about the choices people ma...more One thing I'll say about Everything Matters is that its plot messed with my expectations. Not that I had a lot of expectations about a novel that opened with disembodied voices telling a developing fetus that the world would end in 36 years, but Currie's story of a typical American life with a few very untypical things about it dodges easy categorization. It's neither magic realism, nor science fiction, nor a supernatural tale, but more of an earnest existential drama about the choices people make with their lives.

That said, I thought Everything Matters did a flawed job of living up to its own ambition. At times, it sucked me in with its soulful character studies, but other times, it felt like a string of self-indulgent, slightly unbelievable vignettes of the sort a gifted but amateur writer might bring to a workshop. Currie clearly wants readers to respond emotionally to his story, and pummels us with one piece of drama after another -- a devastating breakup, substance abuse problems, terminal illness, post-9/11 government abuses, and, oh, yeah, the fiery end of the world. And then there's a lot of musing from various characters on what it all means. On a page-by-page level, it's involving and sometimes sadly moving, but as a whole, the story seemed a bit unreal and the characters' motives somewhat arbitrary. As I progressed, I wondered if Currie had really known where he was going with his book, or was just fumbling around for plot ideas and trying to keep the reader's sense of incredulity from catching up. Now that I've finished it, I can't totally disown this impression.

But, I will say that Everything Matters at least tries for something different, even if it falls a little short in execution. Currie asks some serious questions and doesn't wrap everything up neatly -- in fact, the bleak but beautiful ending wasn't the one I would have seen coming at the beginning. You may find yourself, when all is said and done, pondering the choice the main character makes about three quarters of the way through the book, wondering what other paths he (or the author) might have taken. I'll give this book a thumbs up for that, even if it won't make my top ten list.(less)

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Aug 15, 2011 Kristi rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: reading-challenge-2011

I thought the premise of this book was really interesting: from the time that he's in the womb, the main character (Junior) knows the exact date and manner in which the world will end, informed by a semi-omniscient voice that continues to talk to him throughout his life. Indeed, one of the most interesting sections of the book was the opening, which chronicles Junior's experiences in the womb and as a young child, spelling out those experiences and impressions often lost to adults. The book foll...more

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Mar 12, 2011 Greg Zimmerman rated it 4 of 5 stars

Ron Currie Jr. would probably take umbrage with a Bud Light commercial making the rounds these days. In it, scientists spot a meteor heading toward Earth, realize that death is imminent, and commence partying as if nothing matters anymore. But Currie takes a rather unconventional route toward trying to convince you that, even when you know you're going to die, everything in fact, DOES matter.

When our protagonist, Junior Thibodeau, is born, a mysterious voice, which stays with him his entire lif...more Ron Currie Jr. would probably take umbrage with a Bud Light commercial making the rounds these days. In it, scientists spot a meteor heading toward Earth, realize that death is imminent, and commence partying as if nothing matters anymore. But Currie takes a rather unconventional route toward trying to convince you that, even when you know you're going to die, everything in fact, DOES matter.

When our protagonist, Junior Thibodeau, is born, a mysterious voice, which stays with him his entire life, informs him the exact moment the world will end. A comet will crash into the planet on June 15, 2010 at 3:44 pm EST, approximately 36 years from the day he's born. So Junior has to go through life trying to make meaning out of a seemingly purposeless existence, or as he says at a particularly low point of his adulthood, "...life has never been any great f#$%ing shakes in my opinion. In fact, it's always seemed a messy and heartbreaking and overall pointless affair."

Will Junior ever change his mind? I kept hoping so, and that's why I couldn't stop reading. Everything Matters! is a novel about discovering the pleasures of life, the importance of love, and capitalizing on opportunities. Look, death is a part of life, Currie would say. We all know we're going to die. Whether we know exactly when doesn't matter. What does is that for life to fulfilling, to matter, we must find our own paths toward life's meaning. So, carpe diem!

The story is told though a cadre of shifting narrators — Junior himself, his family and his girlfriend Amy, and the Voices Junior hears, which tell their sections to Junior ("We should tell you at this point," eg.) in a numbered countdown to Comet Day. We see Junior come of age, struggle with alcoholism and heartbreak, and generally try to make meaning of his life.

The pleasures of this novel are two-fold: the characters and the writing. The characters: Junior's brother, recovering from a teenage cocaine addiction, which rendered him, um, simple-minded, plays baseball for the Cubs. His mother is an alcoholic and his father a workaholic. And, addition to the fact that he hears the Voices, Junior himself is also the 4th smartest person on the planet, according to the Voices. But he's still a normal, easily recognizable dude, as are all these flawed-but-real characters.

Secondly, Currie is a fabulously talented, fun-to-read writer. At one point, writing about Junior and his classmates watching the Challenger explosion, he describes the booster rockets that "...fly wildly away...tracing slow, chunky vapor trails, like illiterate skywriters." I got chills. What an image!

But beyond a sentence-by-sentence basis, the inventive structure of the novel — the different narrators, the omniscient Voices counting down section-by-section to doomsday — gives a well-rounded perspective on Junior and the events of the story. The fact that other characters tell their own stories in the first person also lends a bit more realism to the novel, lest you're turned off by the narrative gimmick of the Voices telling us what's happening to Junior. And, finally, the structure works and is necessary because Junior is often so jilted and misanthropic that the multiple narrators bring much-needed reliability and trust to the story. They also provide some essential levity. If we only heard Junior's story, most readers would stop after page 75, depressed and frustrated.

The only major problem I had with the book is that just after I understood the point, and was kind of in awe of Currie's writerly prowess and looking forward to a great, profound ending, Currie turns to a sort of silly narrative trick. It made me wonder if Currie's editor didn't request another 50 or so pages to beef up the book a bit. But I don't want to dissuade you from reading this great book. The good far outweighs the bad, and the uplifting message makes it a fine book for anyone who has ever struggled to understand what it all means.

(Two other reasons I loved this novel, that I'm putting down here because most readers of this review probably won't care: 1) Currie includes a hilarious inside joke intended solely for sports geeks: Junior's older brother Rodney plays for the Cubs, and in one the sections Rodney narrates, he explains that he has to use a fake name to check into hotels to avoid stalkers. That fake name: Ron Mexico, which is also the fake name Michael Vick used when he checked into hotels. 2) There's a homage to David Foster Wallace's short story collection Brief Interviews with Hideous Men — a conversation between Junior's brother Rodney and a therapist in which we only get to read Rodney's side of the conversation. Don't worry, if this post-modern strategy isn't your cup of tea, it's only a few pages and doesn't distract from the main story at all.) (less)

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Sep 12, 2010 Jake rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really appreciate the author's sincere effort to directly address the biggests among the big questions. A lot of the writing is also very good in my humble estimation, particularly the stories from the hero's youth; which is also the time when the voice of the little gods-outside-the-machine who speak to the hero is at its most pleasant and endearing. I think one could guess from early in the book, however, that there's going to be a certain amount of narrative and philosophical tension missin...more I really appreciate the author's sincere effort to directly address the biggests among the big questions. A lot of the writing is also very good in my humble estimation, particularly the stories from the hero's youth; which is also the time when the voice of the little gods-outside-the-machine who speak to the hero is at its most pleasant and endearing. I think one could guess from early in the book, however, that there's going to be a certain amount of narrative and philosophical tension missing from the whole thing, once you get pretty certain that yes in fact the impending answer to the aforementioned biggests of those big questions is, yes, given in the book's title. Which doesn't mean this book doesn't kick you in the gut a few times along the way just to make sure you're still paying attention. But still I guess it is the case that if you're announcing the point of what you're writing right up front that probably your strong suit is your sincerity. Nothing wrong with that; and also I just happen to think the answer is the right one, whether the argument is always scintillating or not, and the message worth repeating in whatever form. I think that the publishers probably want you to think this book is a little edgier or more out there or what have you than it really is. The back cover copy includes an 'Infinite Jest' name-drop, which tells me more about the schmo who did the dropping than it does about this book, because the two have nearly nothing in common. Sure, two younger authors looking for meaning in a tough world; but like I said there's no question how this episode turns out, whereas the sense of in-pending but-who-knows-maybe-somehow-transcendable doom that's literalized in the form of a planet-smashing comet in Mr. Currie's book is more just laced into the grout and, just for me, really freakin' scary in Mr. Wallace's writing. Also in the execrable review copy some schmuck from NPR says something about 'heartfelt moments that open into satire', which if anything is the opposite of what this book is about, if I'm reading it right, which is that anything that might seem initially maybe snide or nihilistic or is pretty soon transformed into a heartfelt moment; also there isn't a single instance of satire in the whole book so who knows where NPR-guy got that from. And then there's the guy a few reviews down who said something about being concerned that this book was maybe going to be too bleak, which, again, see the title. But it sure isn't Mr. Currie's fault that Janet Maslin brings up Kurt Vonnegut (which again IMHO isn't really fair to anyone), or that his publisher put Maslin's line in bold print on the cover to sell the book. To the contrary he should be applauded for having us all talking and making fools of ourselves with our various references and comparisons and opinions. Writing a book and putting your heart into it has to be one of the hardest things a person could do, and there's for sure a lot of heart in this one.(less)

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Sep 08, 2010 Daniel Solera rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

This book came as a recommendation from the sages at Amazon.com. After analyzing my browsing and purchasing history, they decided this book would be right up my alley. I was definitely intrigued by the synopsis, which states that the book's protagonist knows the exact date of the end of the world. With such a premise, the possibilities, both thematic and philosophical, would be plentiful and surely intriguing.

You'd think, right?

Unfortunately, this novel is all style and shockingly little substan...more This book came as a recommendation from the sages at Amazon.com. After analyzing my browsing and purchasing history, they decided this book would be right up my alley. I was definitely intrigued by the synopsis, which states that the book's protagonist knows the exact date of the end of the world. With such a premise, the possibilities, both thematic and philosophical, would be plentiful and surely intriguing.

You'd think, right?

Unfortunately, this novel is all style and shockingly little substance. What is consistent with expectations is the establishment of Junior, our protagonist, as someone who hears a narrative voice in his head, one that tells him everything from details about the people around him to the date of a comet's extinction-level collision with Earth. From where exactly this "voice" comes is up to interpretation - aliens, God, schizophrenia, etc.

So where does author Ron Currie Jr. take us with this? After introducing readers to a family that has more dysfunction than charm, he simply tells us odd, seemingly random and loose stories about each character, switching narrative voice, jumping over significant swaths of time. I felt like I had to play catch-up at the beginning of every chapter and not in the fun, detective sense. To make matters worse, very few of the characters are likable and those who are don't affect the plot, or lack thereof.

And what about the looming doomsday prophecy? With the exception of Junior's decision to somehow try and stop this event from happening, it doesn't permeate the story with enough frequency to remind us of its inevitability. Is it unfair of me to demand that a novel whose first five pages shock us by placing a specific end to civilization follow-up such soothsaying by making its plot relevant to it? It isn't until the novel's denouement that the characters actually begin reflecting on the implications of extinction, meanwhile I'm rolling my eyes thinking, it's about time.

Finally, I didn't enjoy the ending whatsoever. I couldn't help but wonder if Currie had recently seen Spielberg's "A.I." because the novel ends by shoehorning a parallel "What If" that is clichéd in its attempt to wax philosophical and completely absolves the plot of any consequence. However, for all my complaints, the novel had an interesting, if not risky style that occasionally pays off and for that, I didn't hate it.(less)

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Sep 04, 2010 C.E. rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a strange book--interesting premise--Junior, the main character knows from birth that the world will end 36 years after his birth, more or less. How does he live his life? I thought this was the set up for a modern take on Camus' "The Plague" instead it unfolded as one of the weirdest meditations on life and love and family I've encountered. There's a lot that flat out doesn't work and some parts are so ridiculous as to be off-putting (for me the fact that Currie obviously didn't spend a...more

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Mar 24, 2010 Thebookchubi rated it 5 of 5 stars

I read Ron Currie, Jr.'s Everything Matters! after reading the book recommendation from Greg over at The New Dork Review of Books. He gave it a thumbs up and I must say that I fully concur. The story is fantastic and the writing is in a very modern style. Although I don't know what most bookstores would classify this book as, I tend to lean toward Sci-Fi (but not fan fiction sci-fi, just dealing in elements that are "other worldly").

With all this talk about "2012 is upon us!" and the apocalypse...more I read Ron Currie, Jr.'s Everything Matters! after reading the book recommendation from Greg over at The New Dork Review of Books. He gave it a thumbs up and I must say that I fully concur. The story is fantastic and the writing is in a very modern style. Although I don't know what most bookstores would classify this book as, I tend to lean toward Sci-Fi (but not fan fiction sci-fi, just dealing in elements that are "other worldly").

With all this talk about "2012 is upon us!" and the apocalypse being just around the corner, it is a good time for Everything Matters!. This novel was written in 1st and 2nd person perspective. For those not in touch with their elementary school English class, that means the story is told using "I, us, we" and "you". It is the least common points-of-view to write from, but I think Currie has done an excellent job. This type of writing provides the reader an opportunity to only know the story from one individual at a time.

Here is the set-up: We begin this tale with a zygote. This soon-to-be little boy, Junior, is being told in the womb by an unidentified semi-omnipotent voice that the world will end in the 2010 (giving him the exact date and time for the sake of details). This voice then stays with Junior throughout his life to give him additional details to help him make better decisions. The story also allows those important people around Junior (as well as Junior himself) the opportunity to tell their story in crucial moments.

At one point mid-reading I stopped and wrote down a note that I think very well describes the theme of the story (besides the obvious that everything matters): time is used as a consequence. What I mean it that Currie jumps around points of this story rapidly to show the next consequence in the series. It kind of takes from the Butterfly Effect, the idea that a butterfly in the USA can start a tsunami in China just by flapping its wings. When you jump from one person's story to another it is important to remember that time has jumped rapidly. You go from talking about someone being kidnapped to talking about that kidnapping eight years after the fact. It can be jarring, but more in the mind-blowing amazing way.

Greg mentioned in his review that he felt the ending seemed contrived, as if Currie was short on pages and decided to whip up extra storyline just to meet the quota. I agree that with a slight twist to the ending it would have been perfectly acceptable to stop right before Part III. But I personally loved the last twist in the book and I will admit that tears fell a little as the end of the novel approached.

On a side note: I add "semi-" before "omnipotent" above because the voices at the beginning tell Junior that they do not know everything, especially the future (although in the end you find out that may not be entirely truthful if you follow logic). What I love about these voices is the role of scientist they appear to be playing with Junior's life. He is an experiment for them to discover what happens if a human knows of unavoidable death and if he will still live life to his maximum potential. And this intrigues me because the way in which they offer advice and extra information to Junior seems to mock modern researchers.

Today, many researchers are trapped in a Catch-22. They need funding to do research, that funding comes from a source with specific goals related to the research, thus in a sense often times researchers are left with a pre-supposed outcome that can lead to interpreting results that will please the pre-supposition instead of the actual truth.

Junior's life has been plagued by this voice's presupposed idea that everything matters. Many times when Junior is being self-destructive they seem to remind him of the point, despite also claiming they are only observers and must remain unbiased in this experiment. And in the end when their experiment has, at least in my opinion, completely failed, they take matters into their own hand to turn things around until their results match their hypothesis.

P.S. I would have chosen to go back and not hear the voices at all. (Read the book to fully understand this comment).
(less)

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Feb 26, 2010 Cynthia rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010-reads

The basic plot is that Junior is born with the knowledge of exactly how and when the earth is going to meet it's ultimate demise: June 15th, 2010, when he is 36 years old. He wonders What Does It All Matter? What does anything matter? If you know there is nothing you can do to stop it.

Clearly the title gives away the answer.

But how the answer reveals itself to Junior makes for a great story. The plot twists are a little crazy at times and if I attempt to describe any of them you will shake you...more

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Feb 14, 2010 April Helms rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, young-adult

This was a strange story, told in a rather interesting fashion. A boy is born, knowing that in 36 years a comet will strike Earth, ending all life. The story is told from multiple points of view as the boy grows up: the boy (Junior), his sweetheart Amy, his brother, his father and a sort of Greek chorus of nearly omnipotent voices. The story is very character-driven and the characters are interesting and well fleshed out. Especially liked the father, a man with a past who has had his mess-ups --...more

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Jan 24, 2010 Theresa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 23, 2010 Annabelle rated it 4 of 5 stars

Junior is born with knowledge, fatalistic knowledge that in 19 years and so many minutes, a meteor will hit the earth and obliterate civilization. Currie uses the literary technique of shifting voices by chapter. First is the plural “we” voice of the entity or entities that give Junior information. Then there is Junior’s voice, Amy his girlfriend from grade school on, his father, Rodney, Sr., and his brother Rodney, Jr. Addiction is a big theme, Junior’s mom is an alcoholic, Rodney, Jr. and his...more

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Jan 10, 2010 AJ Conroy marked it as to-read

Shelves: potential-book-group, library-has-copy

From NPR:

While still in the womb, Junior Thibodeau is informed by a dispassionate and slightly officious voice that the world will end in 36 years, 168 days, 14 hours and 23 seconds. (Find out what else the voice tells Junior while he's in utero.) As the protagonist of Ron Currie's high-wire act of a novel grows to manhood, that fact, and that voice, remain his constant companions. The novel's driving question — can the young genius do anything to forestall or escape doomsday? — is the one that...more

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Dec 10, 2009 Rachael rated it 5 of 5 stars

I am absolutely in love with this book.

While in his mother's womb (and on the first few pages, so don't worry, I'm not ruining the book for you) Junior Thibodeaux is granted the knowledge that Earth will be obliterated 36 years, 168 days, 14 hours and 23 seconds after the moment he is born.

During the next couple of decades, Junior is often granted other tidbits of useful knowledge by the powers in charge of the universe. None of this knowledge makes Junior's life any easier, and all of it makes...more

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Nov 18, 2009 Deborah Moulton rated it 3 of 5 stars

Some good writing and an interesting experiment, but the book ultimately fails. The book begins with the premise that a man, from in utero forward, knows the exact moment and cause of the end of human life on earth. Talked to constantly by an inner voice, his life is informed by this ongoing chatterbox. It's not a conversation since he never talks back or engages with the voice. It's less "God" or alien and more the on-going "monkey mind" we all have: hopping around, chastising us about our choi...more

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Aug 18, 2009 Joanne rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a hard book to review without giving too much away, so I will just say: read the description on the inside cover. If that seems like your cup of tea, it probably is. I was not disappointed - in fact, I was dazzled throughout much of the book, and I came to really love some of the characters - but I can't give it the full 5 points because the ending wasn't as special and luminous and transcendent as the book deserved. It seemed rushed, which is a total shame because the rest of the book w...more

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Jul 25, 2009 Padraigh Mchale rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, general-fiction

I really, really liked this book. Really. I expected to enjoy it somewhat, though, and how couldn't I? It's about the choices and life of a man who knows, down to the second, the exact time and method of the destruction of all life on our planet. Well, ninety six percent of it, anyway, which seems about the same, being one of the species that would be extinct in that scenario.

That being said, this book is way better than it has any business being. There are a lot of point of view transitions in...more

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Jul 07, 2009 Mallory rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people who aren't afraid of an emotional read

This is simultaneously one of the most uplifting and depressing books I've ever read. Every time I started to feel really joyful--"Yes, everything DOES matter!"--something would come along to make me question the book's themes all over again. That said, this is not a sad read, just a hard one. This is one of those books that does something to your soul, even if you can't exactly pinpoint what that is.

Junior is "gifted" with the knowledge, in utero, that the world will end in roughly 35 years. He...more

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Jun 29, 2011 Patty rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: chicago, family, fiction, audiobook, maine, 2011, prophecies, philosophy, contemporary-fiction, speculative-fiction, science-fiction, apocalyptic-fiction, travel

Every time I was about to quit listening to this book something would happen and I couldn't quit. The story is quite fantastic. How Junior could be born knowing the end of the world is baffling and if you can't accept this, you can't read the book.

I thought the characters were well drawn and I wanted to know many of them better. When things happened to them, I felt hurt or scared along with them. Currie has a skewed view of the world, but I would willingly go along for his next ride. It is bound...more

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Aug 12, 2010 Shannon rated it 5 of 5 stars

Not often am I blown away by contemporary fiction, but this book struck me profoundly and I now feel it my urgent duty to scream its praises from my rooftop. Memorable. Interesting. Cutting. Humane.

Told with remarkable candor--the style of writing is simple yet poignant. There are neither too few nor too many words. Nor are things overly or underly explained. The story is remarkable and entirely relate-able. The narrative voices were exquisite. I would like to commend Currie for the restraint th...more

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Apr 24, 2013 Becky rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-club, 2013

This book is the story of a man who is born with the knowledge of the exact date and time that a comet will hit the earth, killing everyone and destroying civilization. The novel tells the story of how his life goes with that knowledge, wondering if anything he does even matters. I'm going back and forth between 3 and 4 stars for this book. The premise is so interesting and the characters created in the first part of the book are complex, likable, and real. However, in the middle of the book, I...more

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Dec 30, 2012 Nyla rated it 2 of 5 stars

The two stars are for coming up with a really creative concept: a boy is born with the knowledge that the world will end on his 37th birthday and now has choices to make about how he will live out his days.

But that's where all the excitement ends. 90% of the novel is a boring, rambling account of the boy and his dysfunctional family and all their daily problems in love, work and life. None of the characters are very likeable, and you spend short bursts of time with each of them without making a...more

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About Ron Currie Jr.

Ron Currie, Jr. was born and raised in Waterville, Maine, where he still lives. His first book, God is Dead, won the Young Lions Fiction Award from the New York Public Library and the Addison M. Metcalf Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His debut novel, Everything Matters!, will be translated into a dozen languages, and is a July Indie Next Pick and Amazon Best of June 2009 sele...more

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Quotes from Everything Matters!

“Everything ends, and Everything matters.

Everything matters not in spite of the end of you and all that you love, but because of it. Everything is all you’ve got…and after Everything is nothing. So you were wise to welcome Everything, the good and the bad alike, and cling to it all. Gather it in. Seek the meaning in sorrow and don’t ever turn away, not once, from here until the end. Because it is all the same, it is all unfathomable, and it is all infinitely preferable to the one dreadful alternative.” — 61 people liked it

“And knowing that the only alternative to your grief is the nothingness that’s fast approaching, you try to embrace your own sorrow, to be open and empty and let it all pass through you. This is the key, you have learned – to relinquish control, to relinquish the desire for control. Even in this late drama, to try to control is to go mad. And so you do your best to let it all go.” — 13 people liked it

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