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Everyone Says That at the End of the World
In this “often riotous, ultimately moving Cat’s Cradle for our time,” a Texas couple prepares for the apocalypse ( Kirkus Reviews ).
In Austin, Milton and Rica are expecting their first child. It’s four days and counting. Not for the baby. But for the end of the world. Haydon Brock, a godless television star has suddenly traded his Hollywood fame for salvation. A prophetic hermit crab is embarking on an unfathomable cross-country quest. Planes are dropping from the sky. And the president and first lady disappear. No omen is too inexplicable to Milton. He’s learned for a fact that our planet is one vast asylum for the incurably insane. And its cosmic guardians are about to close down the whole damn thing.
Then Milton receives one more to seek out Haydon now holed up somewhere in Marfa. To what end Milton hasn’t a clue. To find out, Milton, Rica, and their best friend head west across an increasingly cataclysmic landscape of inter-dimensional time travelers, Jesus clones, sleep-deprived monks, ghosts, and angels in an epic and manic quest to outrun the last days on Earth.
Combining humor, philosophical inquiry and an unforgettable cast of characters, “this sharp-witted satire” ( Booklist ) “is a future classic, and people will be reading [it] decades from now. I know I will” (Charles Yu, How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe ).
In Austin, Milton and Rica are expecting their first child. It’s four days and counting. Not for the baby. But for the end of the world. Haydon Brock, a godless television star has suddenly traded his Hollywood fame for salvation. A prophetic hermit crab is embarking on an unfathomable cross-country quest. Planes are dropping from the sky. And the president and first lady disappear. No omen is too inexplicable to Milton. He’s learned for a fact that our planet is one vast asylum for the incurably insane. And its cosmic guardians are about to close down the whole damn thing.
Then Milton receives one more to seek out Haydon now holed up somewhere in Marfa. To what end Milton hasn’t a clue. To find out, Milton, Rica, and their best friend head west across an increasingly cataclysmic landscape of inter-dimensional time travelers, Jesus clones, sleep-deprived monks, ghosts, and angels in an epic and manic quest to outrun the last days on Earth.
Combining humor, philosophical inquiry and an unforgettable cast of characters, “this sharp-witted satire” ( Booklist ) “is a future classic, and people will be reading [it] decades from now. I know I will” (Charles Yu, How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe ).
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
42 people are currently reading
489 people want to read
About the author
Owen Egerton
17 books125 followersOwen Egerton is the author of the novel The Book of Harold, the Illegitimate Son of God as well as the novel Marshall Hollenzer is Driving and the short story collection How Best to Avoid Dying. He is also an accomplished screenplay writer and commentator for NPR affiliated stations. He is also the co-creator of the award winning comedy hit The Sinus Show which performed for six years at the Alamo Drafthouse Theater, and for several years Egerton was the artistic director of Austin’s National Comedy Theatre. His writing has been featured in Puerto del Sol, Killing the Buddha, Tiferet, Word Riot, and several other magazines and literary journals. Egerton earned a MFA in Creative Writing from Texas State University in 2005. He currently lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and two children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
November 13, 2016
Can't get away from apocalyptic fiction. Conscious or subconscious choices, although definitely news motivated. This one looked to be on the lighter side as far as the end of the world goes and in fact it was. Offbeat, charming (despite the Texas setting, although it's primarily Austin, the oasis of lone star) and yet ultimately too eccentric and idiosyncratic for its own good or at least for my mood. Strong writing, original, conceptually interesting (Earth as an insane asylum for souls...explains a lot, doesn't it) quantum apocalypse with the quirk factor turned up to the max. The best way to describe it is too busy. Quick fairly enjoyable read. Probably much more than that for the right audience.
April 9, 2013
The end of the world never felt so enjoyable. Owen Egerton gives the reader a glimpse of a world that brings to life the religions humans have crafted for thousands of years and presents it through a colorful cast of characters working their way to the end of the world.
Jesus(es) no one can understand or even want to try to understand, the Holy Spirit as a hermit crab with a bright red arrow guiding an unlikely group of Beatles-singing followers, and the Father, who started life as an Austin slacker make up the holy trinity that guides the reader to think about religion as faith coming from within, not belief in a system shaped by humans.
The magical-realism of the story is reminiscent of Haruki Murakami's fiction and Mikhail Bulgokov's The Master and Margarita with its fantastical spiritual elements. Everyone Says That at the End of the World has more grounding, though, which makes the story easy to follow.
The characters alone could have carried this book. Minor characters, major characters, even the cities have a life of their own that won't be easy to forget. Luckily, the story itself is equally good. Pick up this book for a raucous ride through Texas and beyond to take a peek at the end of the world.
Jesus(es) no one can understand or even want to try to understand, the Holy Spirit as a hermit crab with a bright red arrow guiding an unlikely group of Beatles-singing followers, and the Father, who started life as an Austin slacker make up the holy trinity that guides the reader to think about religion as faith coming from within, not belief in a system shaped by humans.
The magical-realism of the story is reminiscent of Haruki Murakami's fiction and Mikhail Bulgokov's The Master and Margarita with its fantastical spiritual elements. Everyone Says That at the End of the World has more grounding, though, which makes the story easy to follow.
The characters alone could have carried this book. Minor characters, major characters, even the cities have a life of their own that won't be easy to forget. Luckily, the story itself is equally good. Pick up this book for a raucous ride through Texas and beyond to take a peek at the end of the world.
July 16, 2013
If you were once very religious and are now more discerning in your personal faith, or if you find yourself caught between the radical fervor of Rick Santorum on one side and Christopher Hitchens on the other, or if you've somehow managed to keep a sense of humor when it comes to religion, then you'll enjoy this book immensely. Owen Egerton pulls off the seemingly impossible trick of skewering religious dogma while at the same time making you want to deepen your relationship with the mystery of life and death and all that is.
September 9, 2025
Found this author through OneStory, I really liked his writing in the short story I read. This book definitely held up, a quirky writing style and an interesting concept (quantum apocalypse!!) Fun read with some really good religious satire.
May 26, 2014
With the publication of How Best to Avoid Dying, the world has found a new master of flash fiction. Egerton’s quirky foray into this genre takes the art form to a level rarely seen. His writing is visual and accessible probably due to his background in theater and improv. Although the collection does include longer pieces many of my favorite pieces are less than six pages long. Some are only incredibly descriptive vignettes.
At first glance the collection appears to be pure Americana; people you know, see, or see through daily. They are convenience store clerks, waffle house employees, teens attending church camp, husbands, wives and lovers. As you continue reading even the title takes on multiple meanings. Is there a best way to avoid dying? Is there any way to avoid dying?
In The Fecalist, Egerton turns a poop joke into a treatise on literary criticism. In fact he leaves the critics of few art forms unscathed. For instance; in Licorice music critics are panned, in Lish it’s spoken word. If you plan on getting a good night’s sleep don’t read Tonight At Noon or Christmas just before going to bed. Egerton bases a number of stories on our accepted rituals of religion. Though Christianity is foremost in Egerton’s discussion, cults are given the treatment in Cold Night Alligator. The message is in the folly of not isolating religious dogma from spirituality.
The pacing is superb and the dialog crisp. You often find his stories crossing over into prose poetry. The commonality, the unifying theme of the work, is that his characters are putting a great deal of effort into getting themselves into a situation where none of the possible outcomes put them in a better place.
The collection stretches the reader’s imagination, possibly changing some ingrained perceptions of the human psyche. Like poetry, the stories often offer deeper insight on multiple readings. It is one of the few collections that left this old farm hand with a tear in his eye; partly because it was over and partly because it ends so beautifully.
At first glance the collection appears to be pure Americana; people you know, see, or see through daily. They are convenience store clerks, waffle house employees, teens attending church camp, husbands, wives and lovers. As you continue reading even the title takes on multiple meanings. Is there a best way to avoid dying? Is there any way to avoid dying?
In The Fecalist, Egerton turns a poop joke into a treatise on literary criticism. In fact he leaves the critics of few art forms unscathed. For instance; in Licorice music critics are panned, in Lish it’s spoken word. If you plan on getting a good night’s sleep don’t read Tonight At Noon or Christmas just before going to bed. Egerton bases a number of stories on our accepted rituals of religion. Though Christianity is foremost in Egerton’s discussion, cults are given the treatment in Cold Night Alligator. The message is in the folly of not isolating religious dogma from spirituality.
The pacing is superb and the dialog crisp. You often find his stories crossing over into prose poetry. The commonality, the unifying theme of the work, is that his characters are putting a great deal of effort into getting themselves into a situation where none of the possible outcomes put them in a better place.
The collection stretches the reader’s imagination, possibly changing some ingrained perceptions of the human psyche. Like poetry, the stories often offer deeper insight on multiple readings. It is one of the few collections that left this old farm hand with a tear in his eye; partly because it was over and partly because it ends so beautifully.
August 14, 2013
I loved this book through and through, from its quirky humor and witty, clever sentences that surprise you with great beauty and depth to its commentary on religion, physics, the universe, and what it means to be human. The plot is bizarre at times but the more you learn about the characters and the more you start seeing the world through the lens of this narrative, you start to get the feeling that there is a lot more sense in the bizarre than we think there is.
June 28, 2019
You know when you eat a buffalo wing and you get some good meat but you have to suffer through all of the not-so-good bits to get to it? This book is like that. Lots of really good parts. Some really not-so-good parts. 2 and 1/2 stars.
April 12, 2021
This book is like tofu. I’ve been a vegetarian for forty-five years and I love the taste of tofu. However, it is definitely not for everyone.
Milton and Rica have just found out that they are expecting their first child but it is four days till the end of the world. I have read a lot of dystopian and apocalyptic science fiction but this book is unique. The characters are great, well developed, and very engaging. The situations in which they find themselves go from being incredibly realistic and to something like a Keystone Cops adventure (yes, you can google them).
It turns out that Earth is where all of the incurable crazies of the universe are put. Here they take on human form and are left with the world as their asylum. Unfortunately, the experiment has not gone well and the powers that be have decided that it is time to just pull the plug on the world and everyone on it.
The best parts of this book are Egerton’s satirical descriptions of religions and the people who subscribe to them. Each religion and practitioner thinks they understand how the universe works (they don’t), how their particular religion is the one and only true one (it isn’t), and that heaven awaits the faithful and will be everything they hope for (it won’t be). Some of Egerton’s most biting bits are when the various Christian faiths meet up with Jesus. I am not giving anything away here when I say it does not go well.
One of my favorite books of all time is Howard Fast’s Time and the Riddle; 31 Zen Stories. In one of those stories, The Sight of Eden, Fast proposed this same idea - that the Earth is a small planet, with a minor sun, at the very edge of an insignificant galaxy. The reason for the location is to keep the crazy inhabitants away from the sane members of the universe. Egerton has a similar take in Everyone Says That At The End Of The World but, being over three hundred pages longer, he has taken that premise far further.
Parts of Everyone Says That At The End Of The World are laugh out loud funny. The satire and the irony are truly hysterical. It is as if Egerton has flipped on the kitchen light in the middle of the night and all of the cockroaches are running for their lives. If what he is saying about humans and religion was not so damn true this book would just be comical. Unfortunately, underneath the laughter are some very painful truths. Egerton’s book rips off the bandaid but does it while keeping you distracted with laughter.
As I said in the beginning, this book will definitely not be to everyone’s taste. Personally, I loved it and am off to read another Egerton book as soon as I post this review.
Milton and Rica have just found out that they are expecting their first child but it is four days till the end of the world. I have read a lot of dystopian and apocalyptic science fiction but this book is unique. The characters are great, well developed, and very engaging. The situations in which they find themselves go from being incredibly realistic and to something like a Keystone Cops adventure (yes, you can google them).
It turns out that Earth is where all of the incurable crazies of the universe are put. Here they take on human form and are left with the world as their asylum. Unfortunately, the experiment has not gone well and the powers that be have decided that it is time to just pull the plug on the world and everyone on it.
The best parts of this book are Egerton’s satirical descriptions of religions and the people who subscribe to them. Each religion and practitioner thinks they understand how the universe works (they don’t), how their particular religion is the one and only true one (it isn’t), and that heaven awaits the faithful and will be everything they hope for (it won’t be). Some of Egerton’s most biting bits are when the various Christian faiths meet up with Jesus. I am not giving anything away here when I say it does not go well.
One of my favorite books of all time is Howard Fast’s Time and the Riddle; 31 Zen Stories. In one of those stories, The Sight of Eden, Fast proposed this same idea - that the Earth is a small planet, with a minor sun, at the very edge of an insignificant galaxy. The reason for the location is to keep the crazy inhabitants away from the sane members of the universe. Egerton has a similar take in Everyone Says That At The End Of The World but, being over three hundred pages longer, he has taken that premise far further.
Parts of Everyone Says That At The End Of The World are laugh out loud funny. The satire and the irony are truly hysterical. It is as if Egerton has flipped on the kitchen light in the middle of the night and all of the cockroaches are running for their lives. If what he is saying about humans and religion was not so damn true this book would just be comical. Unfortunately, underneath the laughter are some very painful truths. Egerton’s book rips off the bandaid but does it while keeping you distracted with laughter.
As I said in the beginning, this book will definitely not be to everyone’s taste. Personally, I loved it and am off to read another Egerton book as soon as I post this review.
November 10, 2019
We're not so much travelling as falling. Falling through the pages. Or maybe we're in motion. p13
Time doesn't pass, we pass through time. p185
The real world hides under reality. You have to lose all of it to get a taste of any of it. p293
We've been prescribing the apocalypse for centuries. p241
The timer for our civilization attempts seems to be winding down. Be prepared to spend your last days with some unlikely characters and maybe to bond with a hermit-crab. The strangest thing about this quirky and oddly delightful dystopian romp was that I came across it by library chance, had never heard of the book nor the author, who has other books to his credit. If you are the kind of reader who looks for "truths hidden in fictions" p81 don't just take my word for it, check out some of the other glowing reviews on this site and let the buzz begin.
The signs are so clear you'd have to work to ignore them. p177
The desire to survive was killing them. p260
Do not mourn your death... Mourn your sad lives. p257
Time doesn't pass, we pass through time. p185
The real world hides under reality. You have to lose all of it to get a taste of any of it. p293
We've been prescribing the apocalypse for centuries. p241
The timer for our civilization attempts seems to be winding down. Be prepared to spend your last days with some unlikely characters and maybe to bond with a hermit-crab. The strangest thing about this quirky and oddly delightful dystopian romp was that I came across it by library chance, had never heard of the book nor the author, who has other books to his credit. If you are the kind of reader who looks for "truths hidden in fictions" p81 don't just take my word for it, check out some of the other glowing reviews on this site and let the buzz begin.
The signs are so clear you'd have to work to ignore them. p177
The desire to survive was killing them. p260
Do not mourn your death... Mourn your sad lives. p257
October 29, 2019
All the ingredients for a book about the end of the world - strange, nearly satisfying, and leaving you wanting more. This was those things, in that order, for better or worse. My heart would have loved an epilogue, but maybe the book is better for not having one.
April 10, 2013
So this is one weird book that while I laughed and loved the characters I couldn't help but feel that I didn't quite get the jokes. Owen Egerton's cast of characters reads like a Carl Hiaasen novel but the difference is that this story is so far out there that it was difficult for me to understand where the plot was going. I felt a bit like one of the main characters, Milton, whose father is ranting and raving about the time traveling spacemen outside and how there are parallel universes where he won't get hit with the bullet. Even though the storyline will leave you wondering what the heck is going on, the goofy characters won't disappoint. My favorite is the hermit crab. The author is an Austinite like myself so I can enjoy his humor even if I don't understand the philosophy. If this is the end of the world it would be a funny way to go.
December 9, 2013
Wow. That is literally the only word I came up with after finishing Owen Egerton’s new novel, Everyone Says That at the End of the World. This book is a force to be reckoned with, combining physics, religion, and love into an imaginative and insightful argument about the meaning of life.
I love it! You can find my full review at http://www.thewhynottblog.com/book-re...
I love it! You can find my full review at http://www.thewhynottblog.com/book-re...
April 29, 2013
I must have loved it, I've referred it to everyone I know, but I really didn't love it. Compelling? Yes. Interesting? Yes. It felt fresh. Maybe too many references to boobs, maybe I didn't love the crab. But, I loved Roy and I loved the Christian Rock bands and I loved the monks... Oh and Jim! I finally settled on 4 stars.
August 18, 2016
Be careful what you believe. You're right.
March 7, 2021
It's fitting that Owen Egerton, a man deeply linked in my head with Fantastic Fest, wrote a novel that reminds me so much of what I love about the film festival's programming.
EVERYONE SAYS THAT AT THE END OF THE WORLD is a sprawling, funny, emotional, and weird exploration of the apocalypse. Every flavor of the end times is represented in this book, about a handful of Texans trying their best to figure their shit out as the world ends around them. The book reminded me of the films of Yoshihiro Nakamura and Sion Sono, but it's deeply regional - a loving portrait of Texas' wide-open, spiritually-nuanced identity. And one of the film's central characters is a hermit crab.
Owen's a great guy and a great writer. I'm glad I finally caught up with his 2013 novel. It's a special one.
EVERYONE SAYS THAT AT THE END OF THE WORLD is a sprawling, funny, emotional, and weird exploration of the apocalypse. Every flavor of the end times is represented in this book, about a handful of Texans trying their best to figure their shit out as the world ends around them. The book reminded me of the films of Yoshihiro Nakamura and Sion Sono, but it's deeply regional - a loving portrait of Texas' wide-open, spiritually-nuanced identity. And one of the film's central characters is a hermit crab.
Owen's a great guy and a great writer. I'm glad I finally caught up with his 2013 novel. It's a special one.
August 22, 2017
I'll want to read this one again in the winter. Generally, I like pop-cultural takes on philosophy, and this was not a disappointment. Characters, setting, plot, theme -- all integrated and well-defined. Yes, even the holy hermit crab.
Full disclosure: I bought this novel for my HS library when it first was published, but because the first chapter is entitled "Fuck Balls," I put it on my tbr pile and it only just surfaced. For YA librarians: you'll want to match-make carefully, but be prepared for teen minds to be blown!
Full disclosure: I bought this novel for my HS library when it first was published, but because the first chapter is entitled "Fuck Balls," I put it on my tbr pile and it only just surfaced. For YA librarians: you'll want to match-make carefully, but be prepared for teen minds to be blown!
January 19, 2021
Aside from some bits that wandered into r/menwritingwomen territory (thinking of Rica's paragraphs-long ode to her own breasts), this book is funny, interesting, and full of lovable characters. In the style of Hitchhiker's Guide, we get whacky and unbelievable hijinks like Jesus clones and a prophetic crab, but parts of this book surprisingly veer into hard-hitting realism, especially when the characters have to confront their own mortality.
I love Click the crab and the monks that never sleep.
I love Click the crab and the monks that never sleep.
October 1, 2019
This is a occasionally captivating, often silly novel that's somewhat Douglas Adams-ish. I wavered between a 3- and 4-star rating. Three stars because it's just too scattered, and because a couple of the multiple parallel story lines were annoying (1, the crab, and 2, the Jesus clones). Four stars because I quoted from this book several times in the course of reading it--that must be worth something. Just not enough.
November 3, 2016
Many fresh ideas! Loved it. Feels authentic and close to home, especially in these day and age... " We are the mentally ill of the universe. Earth is our asylum. Do you realize there hasn't been a murder anywhere else in the universe for last three millions years?" and more: " Symptoms of the insane soup: jealousy, belief in privilege, uncompromising ideals. Evidence of a sane soul: kindness."
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June 28, 2022Yeah, I'm not going to keep going with this. I keep making weird faces as I read it - there's just something about the writing style that I find off-putting. Maybe if there were likable characters I could ignore it, or if there was some dream-like feeling I could support it, but as it is, I just don't want to read it so I'm not going to force myself.
August 28, 2019
The ideas from this book have really stuck with me over the years. Maybe because this world being an insane asylum just makes way too much sense to me. I loved the personal Jesus's. May be time to reread this odd book again.
August 31, 2017
This book started off stronger for me than it finished, and kind of lost me towards the end. Cool, quirky set-up that I enjoyed, however!
September 1, 2017
This book started off with potential but quickly lost me. There were a few parts that hooked me back in but by the end I was over it.
October 13, 2017
The world is ending. And one man knows why, what Earth really is for and who controls the universe. One man. And a hermit crab. Seriously. It makes as much sense as anything else you may believe.
July 24, 2018
Weird and not my kind of weird.
June 23, 2019
This is an epic story told brilliantly. I can't really add much without possibly spoiling the experience of reading this, so I will leave it at that.
May 11, 2021
I'm reading a lot of time travel fiction these days. This was fun, but in the end a little hollow -- the device was a gimmick rather than a way to go deeper into character.
April 26, 2023
Apocalyptic fiction at its best. The beginning is set in Austin, TX which was of special interest to me. Never a dull moment once the characters were formed.
April 29, 2020
This book has a lot of wacky, fun parts, but ultimately the book doesn't quite equal the sum of its parts for me. The book goes out of its way to be more clever than you and make you sit back and go hmmm. It delves into quantum physics and religion and the nature of humanity, and there were many parts that did make me voice an impressed hmmm, but the plot itself left me unimpressed.
There's so much potential that gets squandered. With all the time travel and alternate universes and other-dimensional beings floating around the novel, I expected the story to come together in a way that would blow my mind, but the end is actually quite anticlimactic, in my opinion, and as far as I'm concerned doesn't actually work with the trajectory set up. Overall, I didn't hate it, but I wanted more from the story based on the pieces the author strung along.
Final Thoughts: The best character is a hermit crab.
There's so much potential that gets squandered. With all the time travel and alternate universes and other-dimensional beings floating around the novel, I expected the story to come together in a way that would blow my mind, but the end is actually quite anticlimactic, in my opinion, and as far as I'm concerned doesn't actually work with the trajectory set up. Overall, I didn't hate it, but I wanted more from the story based on the pieces the author strung along.
Final Thoughts: The best character is a hermit crab.
January 3, 2017
Joseph Heller meets Ray Bradbury. A fun read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews