Great book, really enjoyed the fact I had to think about the time travel aspect to really follow the life of Henry. Disliked the movie because it didn't exactly follow the book, tho it did make the daughter Alma more of a major character. Book is a good read. I lost my copy-gave it to a friend who never returned it. That's the second time she's kept a book I recommended.

Sorry for the double post. I just remembered that I had saved this article from the Contra Costa Times which lists their book club choices going back several years. I thought they had some interesting choices and it gave me some ideas for my own club. Times Book Club Selections as of 1 October 2005 Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, CA) Beginning with April 1997: 1. "The Romance Reader," by Pearl Abraham. 2. "Atticus," by Ron Hansen. 3. "The Giant's House," by Elizabeth McCracken. 4. "The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood," by Rebecca Wells. 5. "Maiden Voyage," by Cynthia Bass. 6. "Ugly Ways," by Tina McElroy Ansa. 1998 7. "The Tortilla Curtain," by T. Coraghessan Boyle. 8. "The Samurai's Garden," by Gail Tsukiyama. 9. "The Light of Falling Stars," by J. Robert Lennon. "The Weight of Water," by Anita Shreve. "Straight Man," by Richard Russo. "All Over But the Shoutin'," by Rick Bragg. "The Family Markowitz," by Allegra Goodman. 1999 "The Chin Kiss King," by Ana Veciana-Suarez. "Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia," by Marya Hornbacher. "Caucasia," by Danzy Senna. "About a Boy," by Nick Hornby. "Lost in Translation," by Nicole Mones. "Evening," by Susan Minot. "The Museum Guard," by Howard Norman. "The Girl in the Photograph," by Gabrielle Donnelly. 2000 "Werewolves in Their Youth," by Michael Chabon. "Amy and Isabelle," by Elizabeth Strout. "House of Sand and Fog," by Andre Dubus III. "Tender at the Bone," by Ruth Reichl. "An Equal Music," by Vikram Seth. "One Hundred and One Ways," by Mako Yoshikawa. "The Miracle of Castel di Sangro," by Joe McGinniss. "Plainsong," by Kent Haruf. "The Wholeness of a Broken Heart," by Katie Singer. "Black Girl in Paris," by Shay Youngblood. 2001 "Water, Carry Me," by Thomas Moran. "A Regular Guy," by Mona Simpson. "Motherless Brooklyn," by Jonathan Lethem. "The Feast of Love," by Charles Baxter. "An Invisible Sign of My Own" by Aimee Bender "Bones of the Master: A Journey to Secret Mongolia" by George Crane "Ghostwritten" by David Mitchell 2002 "The Death of Vishnu," by Manil Suri. "The Man Who Ate the 747," by Ben Sherwood "Black, White and Jewish" by Rebecca Walker "The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint" by Brady Udall 43: "Carter Beats the Devil" by Glen David Gold 44: "Peace Like a River" by Leif Enger 45: "Ella Minnow Pea" by Mark Dunn 46: "Mary and O'Neil" by Justin Cronin 2003 47: "Edgewater Angels" by Sandro Meallet 48: "The Virgin's Knot" by Holly Payne 49:"The Dive From Clausen's...

Wow, a year old thread and I see a post of one of my all time fav books. Door into Summer is so excellent, in terms of Time Travel, character development, and just darn good story telling. I separate time travel from futuristic. My fav examples of the first include Time Machine, Time Ships (Stephen Baxter writes a sequel to Wells classic), Time Travelers Wife, Time and Again, and Time Enough for love (another Heinlen). Then there is a wonderful short story by Woody Allen in Without Feathers. I can't remember the name but it involves a professor who is able to travel not so much into time but into a book. Absolutely hilarious.

Bunny 2009 said: >Could the author be using "time travel" to illustrate the extreme impact childhood trauma can cause? Thoughts? Your use of scare quotes suggests that you think that the time travel is all in Henry's head, and your questions reinforce this impression. If you mean this, than, no, I can't agree. There is nothing in the book to indicate that time travel is anything but a fact, however counter-intuitive that might be. For example, how did Henry get his feet so badly frostbitten, if he didn't vanish from point A, travel in time to point B, and return to modern-day Chicago at point C, the parking garage? If, however, you're suggesting that the author was using time travel as a device in the novel she wrote to explore the nuances of childhood trauma, yes, I agree entirely. As a science fiction fan, I'm required to believe the proverbial six impossible things before breakfast. But I'm very wary of conflating the universe of the novel with the artistic intent of the author. The frying-pan-to-fire aspect of Henry's travels in time (e.g. as noted above with the incident of the frozen feet) is an excellent mirror of the bad choices traumatized children make as they grow older, and some of the scenes of Henry's life, such as his trip to visit Ingrid's suicide, mirror the helplessness of a child in the face of extreme trauma. I'm not sure if this is accepted practice here, so please let me know if it's not, but I'm going to copy this reply and post it in the TTW thread to continue there.