Timely Persuasion

by Jacob LaCivita

What did Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, and my sister have in common? They were all my friends, and they died. Timely Persuasion follows an anonymous music critic on a quest to save his sister from the relationship that ended her life. After a chance encounter at a bowling alley leaves him with the ability to travel in time, our hero uses his musical knowledge to "blink" through the years attempting to keep the couple apart by any means necessary. But is her husband Nelson really to blame? Along the way he launches a new folk rock star, accidentally restructures his family tree, and crosses paths with the likes of Huey Lewis, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, and Billy Joel. Reliving past events through the eyes of his younger selves, he soon finds that correlation and causation are not always what they seem. This story of death, life, love, and rock 'n' roll defies genre conventions while paying tribute to the classic time travel tales that came before it.

Genres: Time Travel, Fiction

239 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Darusha Wehm · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Nick Hornby wrote The Time Traveler's Wife, it would look a lot like this book. I dug all the music references and the way time travel is depicted here is novel and as believable as it gets.

A fun read.

[Nathan J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came across "Timely Persuasion" after reading some reviews of the movie "Yesterday". This book starts out as a fun time travel adventure story, but it so much more than that. The author shows a deep love and respect for the history of music and decoding all the references adds a lot of depth and enjoyment to the story. I particularly enjoyed the love story that develops through backstory and exposition. There are a lot of great things to say about this book, but suffice to say, "Local Boy done good!

[Bryan · Rating 1 out of 5]

THIS BOOK IS AWFUL!!!!


My Timely Persuasion Spotify Playlist


Prologue ( I envision west side story I don't know why)
1) one Metallica
Maggie May rod Stewart
The gambler Kenny Rogers
2) Two of us the Beatles
I want a new drug Huey Lewis and the news
The needle and the damage done Neil young
3) gimmee three steps lynyrd skynyrd
Truckin grateful dead
4) hours in Washington
Down along the cove bob Dylan
Ironic alanis morissette
5) five seconds to hold you devics
Smash offspring ALBUM
rusty rodan ALBUM
Live through this hole ALBUM
Mellow gold beck ALBUM
A hard rains a gonna fall Bob Dylan
6) 6ix the lemon heads
7) tram # 7 to heaven Jens lekman
The boxer simon and garfunkle
Possession Sarah mcLachlan
Opps I did it again Britney Spears
8) eight days a week the beatles
Party like its 1999 prince
Are you experienced Hendrix
9) Drivin on 9 the breeders
Is chicago not chicago soul coughing
10) 10 AM Automatic the black keys
Just dropped in first edition
Bohemian rhapsody queen
Killing me softly Roberta flack
11) won one (dad)
Garbage man G love and special sauce
Piano man billy Joel
Should I stay or should I go clash
12) Rainy day woman #12 & 35 Bob Dylan
Home on the range bing Crosby
That's what friends are for Dionne Warwick
I'll be there for you Jackson 5
13) no for the 13th time the wonder stuff
Comfortably numb pink Floyd
14) fourteen rivers fourteen floods beck
Summer of 69' Bryan Adams
I'm gonna be 500 miles the proclaimers
Sympathy for the devil the Rolling Stones
For what it's worth buffalo Springfield
Roll over Beethoven chuck berry
Billy Jean Michael Jackson
15) prophet 15 suppergrass
People are strange the doors
We can work it out the Beatles
Everyday buddy holly
Piece of my heart Janis Joplin
All along the watchtower bob Dylan
Whatever oasis
Lounge act nirvana
With a little help from my friends the Beatles
Smells like teen spirit nirvana
The power of love Huey Lewis and the news
I'm into something good Herman's hermits
We can work it out the Beatles
Piece of the sky the wonder stuff
Only anthrax
Nowhere fast carter the unstoppable sex machine
Captain jack billy Joel
O lonely soul it's a hard rain Mary's dish
Martyr the mr t experience
Sunshine Jonathan Edwards
Cats in the cradle Harry Chapin
Alive pearl jam
I want a new drug Huey Lewis and the news
Summer of 69' Bryan Adams
Missing you john Waite
Start choppin dinosaur jr
Your wildest dreams the moody blues
White wedding billy idol
Straight up Paula Abdul
Baby one more time Britney Spears
Debonair afghan wigs
Dead horse guns and roses
Superstitious Stevie wonder
16) Christine sixteen kiss
Who knows band of gypsies
Tapestry don McLean ALBUM
Castles in the air don McLean
American pie don McLean
Vincent don McLean
American pie and other hits don McLean ALBUM
Let me clear my throat dj cool
Bridge over troubled waters simon and garfunkle
17) wonder kite at 17 pavement
Down with disease phish
Black pearl jam
Down 311
I can't win for loosing you earl Thomas Conley
Star-Spangled Banner Hendrix
We didn't start the fire billy Joel
18) 18 and life skid row
Piano man billy Joel
The stranger billy Joel ALBUM
Slip slidin' away Paul simon
Just my imagination temptations
Rehab Amy winehouse
19) 19-2000 gorillaz
Egg man beastie boys
Rock around the clock bill Haley
War Edwin star
20) 20 ft halo suppergrass
Do you believe in love Huey Lewis and the news
Bouncing around the room phish
21) now we are 21 mr t experience
Break on through the doors
Keep on keepin on Curtis mayfield
22) 22 days 22-20's
For what it's worth buffalo Springfield
Revenge is sweet & so are you mr t experience ALBUM
Won't get fooled again the who
23) 23:59 end of the world carter the unstoppable sex machine
Your so vain Carly simon
Ob-la-di, ob-la-da the Beatles
24) 24 hour party people happy Mondays
The last time the Rolling Stones
25) 25 minutes to go johnny cash
26) across 26 winters Phoenix morning
Poi dog pondering complicated
Yankee hotel foxtrot wilco ALBUM
Que srea sera Dorris day
I am the walrus the Beatles
Prologue reprise (I envision the quantum leap theme song)

[Timmy_the_rube · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Full Disclosure: I know the author of this book. We went to high school together, and played something like 100+ holes of golf a week in the summer of 1991.]

Ten word summary: Time-travel novel, in which a serious personal mistake is corrected.

I think the great strength of this novel is the whole giddy propulsive energy of it. There's a sort of palpable sense of delight in the sections where the rules of time travel are being figured out by a protagonist who a) seems to need that kind of challenge, and b) is clever enough (maybe too clever) to work it all out. By grounding the puzzle in the sort of person who can't help by be distracted by song lyrics and diverted by classic scifi TV shows, the early exposition is never didactic; it's fun. Even when the serious task of the novel looms, it's still fun. The narrator of the book, a former music journalist and sci-fi aficionado, is the sort of person who was meant to travel through time. He's who you'd want on your side if you became unstuck in time -- someone who knew which butterflies it's theoretically okay to kill, what you can do if you've accidentally smooshed the wrong ones, and where David Bowie happens to be playing a tiny club show in the remote slice of time you've found yourself.

That sort of giddiness is hard to sustain. And once the paradoxes of time travel pile up, and the author has to juggle a lot of narrative balls at once, things become complicated. So, in the final act, there's a bit more exposition for the sake of exposition rather than exposition as delighted discovery. No doubt this is the challenge of this sort of story; too much exposition is a tonal shift, too little and the reader is hopelessly lost. No matter, though -- by the final act, so much good will is built up on the part of the reader that its momentum will carry through to the end.

Unlike the protagonist, sci-fi isn't necessarily my thing. But I really enjoyed this book.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book and story but too confusing sometimes. But then again, what time travel story isn't confusing to follow?

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just ordered the paperback version of this book, although you can also read it for free on the website. I had the privilege to read an early version of the book several years ago and I'm so excited to read the final product. Kudos to my lifelong friend Jacob for having a great idea and seeing to completion. Hope you enjoy it :)

LOVED IT! While I missed the Red Sox references made in the earlier draft, I really enjoyed reading the published edition. I definitely saw Jacob and our childhood friends in the story, but it was a peak into what his life is life in CA. I was a bit confused about some of the nuts and bolts of time travel, but the story pulled me through. Again KUDOS to Jacob!

[John Herbert · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a Time Travel story enthusiast I must say this book left me more than a little frustrated. That the whole book was based on the small matter of a man trying to stop his sister marrying someone because she ends up committing suicide, seemed a pretty meagre premise to base a book upon.

Not only that - when the guy time travels he eventually meets other versions of himself and between them they end up discussing the why's and wherefore's if one of them does this or the other one does that. Frankly I was so confused in the end I was glad when I turned the final page, if only to give my brain a rest!!!

Take my word for it - go read the best time travel book ever - 11 22 63 by Stephen King.