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Mr. Was
Jack Lund figures a good day is when his dad's too drunk to beat up his mom.
For Jack, Bogg's End is the end. The end of the turbulent, see-saw years of watching his father go on the wagon and fall right back off again. Once it took two years, but the inevitable inevitably happened. Now it's just Jack and his mom starting over in the strange old house his grandfather left them.
But the ride's not over yet. Jack's father returns, full of apologies and promises, and for a little while, things are looking up. Then in one terrifying, sickening moment, everything comes crashing back down again.
So Jack runs. He runs through a strange hidden door that takes him back in time to before his parents were born. Before he was born. Maybe with a second chance he can stop the inevitable. At least he's got to try. What Jack doesn't understand, though, is that he can't change his future until he faces his past.
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 1, 1996
22 people are currently reading
841 people want to read
About the author
Pete Hautman
60 books357 followersPeter Murray Hautman is an American author best known for his novels for young adults. One of them, Godless, won the 2004 National Book Award for Young People's Literature. The National Book Foundation summary is, "A teenage boy decides to invent a new religion with a new god."
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January 18, 2024
The pitfalls and paradoxes of time travel send the reader on a dark yet delightful journey in Mr. Was. This book was selected for my bookclub by my friend who’s son made him read it after it blew his mind. A few years ago, the son read a goodreads review about it where the reviewer’s friend had their bookclub read the novel and everyone really enjoyed it. And oddly enough, though I only just read this book, goodreads is showing I wrote this review back in 2012 so who knows…
Jokes aside, this was quite fun and goes some surprisingly dark places. While Hautman is now known for his YA novels—he won a National Book Award for Young People’s Literature in 2004 for Godless—he had previously written novels for adults and had intended Mr Was to be so as well. After struggling to make the plot work he changed his 30 year old narrator to a teen and the success of Mr Was kickstarted his career as a YA novelist. It works quite well, moving between the perspective of teenage Jack Lund and the enigmatic Mr Was and all framed as being strange and mysterious journal entries found by the author himself.
This is much darker than expected, in a good way, and the story kicks off when Jack travels far back in the past after his alcoholic father murders his mother. His plan is to live out the many years and then stop his father, but life gets in the way and Jack finds himself caught in the violence of WWII and, later, the confines of a mental hospital and much of the tension surrounds concerns he will ever remember his mission in the first place. I enjoy how the story nudges the grandfather paradox, and not only as an exploration of the theory but rather directly as Jack quite literally becomes his own grandfathers rival…for the affections of his grandmother (unbeknownst to Jack).
This was fun and rather mind blowing. It leans into a lot of familiar time travel tropes but also has a lot of freshness to it as well, such as the two timelines of Jack do cross paths but they are unable to see one another. There is a great moment of Jack watching a riderless bike navigate it’s way down a street and Hautman does well by having the book read with a lot of horror aesthetics. It’s fun to remember this is a YA that was intended as an unsettling adult novel, so it’s much edgier than one would expect. In fact it felt a lot like a Twilight Zone episode. It was also a perfect bookclub read because there’s just SO many different aspects to talk about and works well for readers of any age. A quick but mind bending read. Tell your friends.
⅘
Jokes aside, this was quite fun and goes some surprisingly dark places. While Hautman is now known for his YA novels—he won a National Book Award for Young People’s Literature in 2004 for Godless—he had previously written novels for adults and had intended Mr Was to be so as well. After struggling to make the plot work he changed his 30 year old narrator to a teen and the success of Mr Was kickstarted his career as a YA novelist. It works quite well, moving between the perspective of teenage Jack Lund and the enigmatic Mr Was and all framed as being strange and mysterious journal entries found by the author himself.
This is much darker than expected, in a good way, and the story kicks off when Jack travels far back in the past after his alcoholic father murders his mother. His plan is to live out the many years and then stop his father, but life gets in the way and Jack finds himself caught in the violence of WWII and, later, the confines of a mental hospital and much of the tension surrounds concerns he will ever remember his mission in the first place. I enjoy how the story nudges the grandfather paradox, and not only as an exploration of the theory but rather directly as Jack quite literally becomes his own grandfathers rival…for the affections of his grandmother (unbeknownst to Jack).
This was fun and rather mind blowing. It leans into a lot of familiar time travel tropes but also has a lot of freshness to it as well, such as the two timelines of Jack do cross paths but they are unable to see one another. There is a great moment of Jack watching a riderless bike navigate it’s way down a street and Hautman does well by having the book read with a lot of horror aesthetics. It’s fun to remember this is a YA that was intended as an unsettling adult novel, so it’s much edgier than one would expect. In fact it felt a lot like a Twilight Zone episode. It was also a perfect bookclub read because there’s just SO many different aspects to talk about and works well for readers of any age. A quick but mind bending read. Tell your friends.
⅘
December 27, 2011
My teenage son called this book “awesome,” and when he says that about something that isn’t a computer game, I’m instantly intrigued. Now that I’ve read the book, I completely agree with his assessment. It’s a time travel book that’s also a mystery since the story isn’t given to you contiguously. You get a letter dated 1952, a narrative beginning in the 1990’s, and a journal of sorts from World War II. From there you have to piece the whole thing together. Of course, you don’t quite get the whole picture until the very end, and then, just like with the Harry Potter series, when you look back at those earlier scenes, you can’t help but be awed at the author’s brilliance. The hints were there all along and the pieces fit together perfectly!
One warning: this book is dark - much darker than Harry Potter, which at least has a strong redemptive message. At all times, the protagonist inhabits a violent world. But he himself is a likable character and his story is riveting. I agree with my son completely. It may not be the stuff of classical literature, but this book is awesome.
One warning: this book is dark - much darker than Harry Potter, which at least has a strong redemptive message. At all times, the protagonist inhabits a violent world. But he himself is a likable character and his story is riveting. I agree with my son completely. It may not be the stuff of classical literature, but this book is awesome.
September 14, 2011
I just finished Pete Hautman’s 1996 novel Mr. Was. The story chronicles the life of John (Jack) Lund, which begins in 1979 and ends in 1952. Yes. You read that right. 1979 to 1952. It’s a time travel story that involves a creepy old house, a secret door, and a family saga which cycles back on itself a few times before Jack’s tale is complete.
It’s a fine bit of metafiction, too, set in fictional Memory, MN, which is surrounded by very real and (at least for me) very familiar locations—including my hometown. Hautman even writes himself into the story, as one simply presenting—for our review—the documents contained in an aluminum briefcase his dad found on a North Carolina beach in the early 1950’s (documents Hautman himself supposedly didn’t read until the 1990’s). While this author interaction with the text adds another layer to the narrative (and another chill factory to the story’s “plausibility”), I only wish the possibilities would have been mined a bit further to really explore the effect of story on its writer (or transcriber). Sort of like the way Wes Craven’s New Nightmare investigates (metaphorically) how the horror genre affects those who create it. All things being equal, though, Mr. Was is a much better story than New Nightmare.
Mr. Was is Hautman’s first YA novel. You can read more about it (and its forthcoming new edition) in a post by the author HERE.
Hautman notes that when he wrote Mr. Was, he did not consider it to be a novel for young adults, but Jack's "experiences as a teen made for better storytelling." And so it was published as YA.
It fits the genre. At least, Mr. Was is half a YA novel—both literally and literarily. Literally because about half the book takes place while Jack is an adolescent. Literarily because Jack’s life teeters between fate and agency. Agency, for me at least, is a hallmark of YA (or “coming-of-age”) stories. A protagonist must separate himself from the forces that have pushed and pulled him in different directions throughout his childhood and think and act for himself (for better or for worse). So even beyond agency, or the capacity to act, I would argue he must actually act. Jack does just this, making the decision to travel back in time to prevent a tragedy—even though it means he’ll have to wait fifty years for the opportunity to stop it.
But, as is the case with any good time travel story, there is the question of fate. Can anything in the past really be altered? Because if there ever were a time traveler, any difference that he or she makes in history really doesn’t represent a difference at all—it just is. Things that are have always been and will always be.
Whew! That’s getting a little heady for this blog. But my point is, how can anyone exhibit agency (at least in the realm of time travel) when everything that is has always been and will always be? Plus what happens to Jack in the past further strips him of his agency, but we won't get into that (to both save time and avoid spoiling the rest of the novel for you).
This agency/fate split does not represent a flaw in the novel (nor even a mischaracterization of this novel as YA). To the contrary, it makes the novel stronger and more interesting. Makes us think about these things—agency and fate. Even—hopefully—makes young readers question the repetition of history. If we know going down a particular road will take us somewhere bad, can’t we choose a different way the next time 'round?
Recommended for ages 15-18.
It’s a fine bit of metafiction, too, set in fictional Memory, MN, which is surrounded by very real and (at least for me) very familiar locations—including my hometown. Hautman even writes himself into the story, as one simply presenting—for our review—the documents contained in an aluminum briefcase his dad found on a North Carolina beach in the early 1950’s (documents Hautman himself supposedly didn’t read until the 1990’s). While this author interaction with the text adds another layer to the narrative (and another chill factory to the story’s “plausibility”), I only wish the possibilities would have been mined a bit further to really explore the effect of story on its writer (or transcriber). Sort of like the way Wes Craven’s New Nightmare investigates (metaphorically) how the horror genre affects those who create it. All things being equal, though, Mr. Was is a much better story than New Nightmare.
Mr. Was is Hautman’s first YA novel. You can read more about it (and its forthcoming new edition) in a post by the author HERE.
Hautman notes that when he wrote Mr. Was, he did not consider it to be a novel for young adults, but Jack's "experiences as a teen made for better storytelling." And so it was published as YA.
It fits the genre. At least, Mr. Was is half a YA novel—both literally and literarily. Literally because about half the book takes place while Jack is an adolescent. Literarily because Jack’s life teeters between fate and agency. Agency, for me at least, is a hallmark of YA (or “coming-of-age”) stories. A protagonist must separate himself from the forces that have pushed and pulled him in different directions throughout his childhood and think and act for himself (for better or for worse). So even beyond agency, or the capacity to act, I would argue he must actually act. Jack does just this, making the decision to travel back in time to prevent a tragedy—even though it means he’ll have to wait fifty years for the opportunity to stop it.
But, as is the case with any good time travel story, there is the question of fate. Can anything in the past really be altered? Because if there ever were a time traveler, any difference that he or she makes in history really doesn’t represent a difference at all—it just is. Things that are have always been and will always be.
Whew! That’s getting a little heady for this blog. But my point is, how can anyone exhibit agency (at least in the realm of time travel) when everything that is has always been and will always be? Plus what happens to Jack in the past further strips him of his agency, but we won't get into that (to both save time and avoid spoiling the rest of the novel for you).
This agency/fate split does not represent a flaw in the novel (nor even a mischaracterization of this novel as YA). To the contrary, it makes the novel stronger and more interesting. Makes us think about these things—agency and fate. Even—hopefully—makes young readers question the repetition of history. If we know going down a particular road will take us somewhere bad, can’t we choose a different way the next time 'round?
Recommended for ages 15-18.
September 15, 2021
This is one of my all time favorite time travel books. It's a great example of how YA books are often better than adult books at packing a wallop of a story in a small package. I'm not sure why this book isn't better known (it's like #576 or something on Goodreads "Popular Time Travel Books" list), because I enjoyed it so much that I've lost track of how many times I've read it.
Jack's goes with his mother to spend some time at his grandfather's creepy old mansion. There, he discovers a hidden door that takes him 50 years into the past. He meets a couple of other teens about his age, who think he's pretty strange. After he returns to his own time, he wonders if he imagined the door into the past. Later, tragedy strikes and Jack returns through the door, determined to live through fifty years of the past so that he can rewrite history. He arrives in the past just in time for WWII....
My favorite books are the ones that get better with each rereading, and this is no exception. Little scenes or words that are innocuous on the first read, suddenly have significance on the reread. This is the first time I've read this since joining Goodreads, and I still thoroughly enjoyed it. I stayed up way too late reading, eager to get to the revelations near the end. Someday I'll have to draw out the timelines on a graph because near the end things get a little complicated.
This book is kind of along the line of "Here When You Reach Me" by Rebecca Stead, in that it's a simple time travel book for younger readers that's entirely enjoyable for adults. Subtle time travel twistiness is my favorite thing....
Jack's goes with his mother to spend some time at his grandfather's creepy old mansion. There, he discovers a hidden door that takes him 50 years into the past. He meets a couple of other teens about his age, who think he's pretty strange. After he returns to his own time, he wonders if he imagined the door into the past. Later, tragedy strikes and Jack returns through the door, determined to live through fifty years of the past so that he can rewrite history. He arrives in the past just in time for WWII....
My favorite books are the ones that get better with each rereading, and this is no exception. Little scenes or words that are innocuous on the first read, suddenly have significance on the reread. This is the first time I've read this since joining Goodreads, and I still thoroughly enjoyed it. I stayed up way too late reading, eager to get to the revelations near the end. Someday I'll have to draw out the timelines on a graph because near the end things get a little complicated.
This book is kind of along the line of "Here When You Reach Me" by Rebecca Stead, in that it's a simple time travel book for younger readers that's entirely enjoyable for adults. Subtle time travel twistiness is my favorite thing....
January 28, 2014
Mr. Was by Pete Hautman is a novel that keeps you on the edge of your seat or bed or wherever you like to read. With the main character being of a teen age this book was perfect for young adults and allows one to connect personally with the story. Although it starts out as realistic fiction it slowly becomes more captivating with action and sorrow that leaves you attached to the Jack, the main character. Even without the introduction of time travel and a “secret door” this novel would be a 10/10 with its ability to keep you reading for hours. It has everything you would want in a story from a love that could never be to family trouble, fantasy and vengeance. With so many aspects to it Mr. Was is a novel that everyone should experience for themselves to truly appreciate the work of a fantastic author and absolute immersion into an extravagant story.
June 13, 2013
Lot's of spoilerish stuff ahead.
When I first heard about Back to the Future, I thought there was a whole lot of potential in a time travel story where a teen goes back and meets his teenaged mom. So I was expecting something like Oedipus, and got light-hearted Spielberg flick instead (and yes, I know he didn't actually direct it, but the first of the Back to the Future movies has always felt more like Spielberg than Zemekis).
I was surprised that Mr. Was, which is targeted at the younger part of the YA market, treads upon this same ground. The central premise is that Jack Lund discovers a fifty year door. Go through it one way, and you go back fifty years. The other way takes you forward fifty years. Jack decides to take the trip back fifty years and then wait so he can undo the murder of his mother. But in the past, he falls in love with his own grandmother. The difference between Jack, and Marty McFly, is that Jack doesn't know that Andie is his grandmother, and so the love is allowed to flourish. And the book ends up with the two of them living happily together. This ending was both very satisfying, and quite creepy.
The story is very crisp. I've read from other reviews that it is a mystery, and I suppose that for younger readers, it probably is. I thought the mystery aspect of the story was quite transparent. I immediately knew who Jack's grandmother and grandfather were, so the revelations in the book came as no surprise to me. But I still found myself admiring the way Hautman had constructed his little puzzle. It works astonishingly well. Most time travel stories get fouled up in one way or another on the various paradoxes that time travel might cause. The Back to the Future series started out by winking at them (Chuck Berry's brother calling Chuck to let him hear the 'new sound' he had been looking for), and eventually went so overboard that it became beyond silly. By contrast, Hautman is careful to construct his story so that by the end, there is no true paradox involved.
One minor point troubled me. When aging Jack appears in front of himself as a youth (in 1993), they are unable to see each other. I guess that's OK with a certain kind of poetic license. But although they can't see each other, young Jack can hear his older self. And they physically bump into each other at one point. I suppose in every time travel book, there has to be something where you just say "Well, OK". But this point still feels quite clumsy to me.
Finally, the more I think about it, the more I think that Hautman may have written this book as an anti-Back to the Future. Jack goes back in time to try to save his family, but he fails in that. While back, he falls for his grandmother. His rival, his Biff, is Skoros who ends up being his grandfather. Skoros uses a sheet from the financial page of a 1990s newspaper to make himself rich on the stock market (which is straight out of BTTF), and he thinks that he has killed his rival, here on Guadalcanal. The basic plot elements are strikingly similar, but Hautman's take has made something darker, less confectionary, and I think ultimately a bit more satisfying.
When I first heard about Back to the Future, I thought there was a whole lot of potential in a time travel story where a teen goes back and meets his teenaged mom. So I was expecting something like Oedipus, and got light-hearted Spielberg flick instead (and yes, I know he didn't actually direct it, but the first of the Back to the Future movies has always felt more like Spielberg than Zemekis).
I was surprised that Mr. Was, which is targeted at the younger part of the YA market, treads upon this same ground. The central premise is that Jack Lund discovers a fifty year door. Go through it one way, and you go back fifty years. The other way takes you forward fifty years. Jack decides to take the trip back fifty years and then wait so he can undo the murder of his mother. But in the past, he falls in love with his own grandmother. The difference between Jack, and Marty McFly, is that Jack doesn't know that Andie is his grandmother, and so the love is allowed to flourish. And the book ends up with the two of them living happily together. This ending was both very satisfying, and quite creepy.
The story is very crisp. I've read from other reviews that it is a mystery, and I suppose that for younger readers, it probably is. I thought the mystery aspect of the story was quite transparent. I immediately knew who Jack's grandmother and grandfather were, so the revelations in the book came as no surprise to me. But I still found myself admiring the way Hautman had constructed his little puzzle. It works astonishingly well. Most time travel stories get fouled up in one way or another on the various paradoxes that time travel might cause. The Back to the Future series started out by winking at them (Chuck Berry's brother calling Chuck to let him hear the 'new sound' he had been looking for), and eventually went so overboard that it became beyond silly. By contrast, Hautman is careful to construct his story so that by the end, there is no true paradox involved.
One minor point troubled me. When aging Jack appears in front of himself as a youth (in 1993), they are unable to see each other. I guess that's OK with a certain kind of poetic license. But although they can't see each other, young Jack can hear his older self. And they physically bump into each other at one point. I suppose in every time travel book, there has to be something where you just say "Well, OK". But this point still feels quite clumsy to me.
Finally, the more I think about it, the more I think that Hautman may have written this book as an anti-Back to the Future. Jack goes back in time to try to save his family, but he fails in that. While back, he falls for his grandmother. His rival, his Biff, is Skoros who ends up being his grandfather. Skoros uses a sheet from the financial page of a 1990s newspaper to make himself rich on the stock market (which is straight out of BTTF), and he thinks that he has killed his rival, here on Guadalcanal. The basic plot elements are strikingly similar, but Hautman's take has made something darker, less confectionary, and I think ultimately a bit more satisfying.
October 3, 2017
Review
This book was so good! I loved how the plot thickens, but everything still makes sense at the end of the book. It is refreshing to feel a sense of contentment at the end of the book instead of wondering why the book ended a certain way. I would definitely read more of the author's books.
Plot
Jack Lund lives with his mom and dad. They are a dysfunctional family because Jack's dad is a drunk, and his mom loves to encourage his father's anger. When Jack's grandpa Skorro has fallen ill, him and his mom went to visit him in the hospital. As soon as Jack's grandpa saw him, he started strangling Jack and then died. After mourning the loss of his crazy grandpa, Jack and his parents moved into grandpa Skorro's house. While exploring, Jack finds a fifty year door which can take him fifty years back in time. After Jack's father and mother died, he went back fifty years so he would be able to save his parents if he waited fifty years.
Characterization
The main character, Jack Lund, changed a lot over the course of the book. In the beginning of the book Jack was always wondering if his father would stop drinking and if his parents would ever be happy. After Jack lost his parents he became a better person by being more compassionate and selfless.
Recommendations
I would recommend this book to highschool students and up because some things in the book may scar younger kids. Gender doesn't play a role in who or who would not like this book.
This book was so good! I loved how the plot thickens, but everything still makes sense at the end of the book. It is refreshing to feel a sense of contentment at the end of the book instead of wondering why the book ended a certain way. I would definitely read more of the author's books.
Plot
Jack Lund lives with his mom and dad. They are a dysfunctional family because Jack's dad is a drunk, and his mom loves to encourage his father's anger. When Jack's grandpa Skorro has fallen ill, him and his mom went to visit him in the hospital. As soon as Jack's grandpa saw him, he started strangling Jack and then died. After mourning the loss of his crazy grandpa, Jack and his parents moved into grandpa Skorro's house. While exploring, Jack finds a fifty year door which can take him fifty years back in time. After Jack's father and mother died, he went back fifty years so he would be able to save his parents if he waited fifty years.
Characterization
The main character, Jack Lund, changed a lot over the course of the book. In the beginning of the book Jack was always wondering if his father would stop drinking and if his parents would ever be happy. After Jack lost his parents he became a better person by being more compassionate and selfless.
Recommendations
I would recommend this book to highschool students and up because some things in the book may scar younger kids. Gender doesn't play a role in who or who would not like this book.
May 25, 2017
I did not really enjoy this book because I am not really into the whole sci-fi fantasy genre. The book kind of spoiled itself a lot by giving hints that were pretty obvious to what was going on. The book also was split up pretty badly and did not flow very well.
October 18, 2016
Personal Response: Mr. Was is a very interesting book that has a irresistible plot. I must say that the book gets very confusing but in the end it kinda redeems itself. After the boring beginning, the rising action takes place which really lights up the book before the climax. I love this book and it was probably the fastest book I’ve read. This book helped remind me of Back to the Future.
Summary/Plot: Jack was laying in bed when he heard the home phone ring. His mother told him that her father was in the hospital and she wanted to go see him before he died. Jack’s mother dragged him into the trip from Chicago to Memory, Minnesota. He went with his mom to Memory that held under one hundred people. They went to see Jackś grandfather and just as Jack’s grandfather saw him, he had his hands around Jack’s neck trying as hard as he could to choke Jack. Soon after that, the EKG that was attached to Jack’s grandfather was flat. Jack and his mother then drove around in Memory to learn more about his grandfather’s past. During and after the funeral there seemed to be an invisible person his parents were talking about. When they went back home Jackś father took care of his drinking problems for some time because doing that only brought his family together. He started drinking again after a while, then, Jackś dad was arrested for brutally beating his Jack and his mom. Jack and his mom when to live in the house that Jackś grandpa Skoro had owned. In that house Jack found a metal door in a secret room that seemed to bring him way back into the past. After Jackś dad was released from jail he came and lived with his wife and Jack. He says he was not an alcoholic anymore. After a while it isn't a secret anymore that he is drinking again. Jackś parents started to fight again and Jack wanted to do something different, so he grabbed a bat and went after his dad. His dad was hit in the hip but after that swing Jack took his dad grabbed the bat and came walking after him. Jack's mom who was already beaten up came after her husband, but as soon as he turned around and saw her he hit her in the head as hard as he could with the metal bat. Jack ran back to see what happened and when he saw, he wasn't happy with what the result of the fight was. Jack slept next to his dead mom on the stairs till the next morning. After Jack woke up he headed for the metal door because his only other friends were behind there. Jack went through that door and lived the rest of his life behind there and only headed back through it once more to meet back up with the woman of his dreams.
Recommendation: I recommend this book to anybody over the age of ten. I recommend this book to that age group because to really understand what is going on takes a lot of thinking and flashbacks. Readers must be warned to remember a lot because a lot of the book in the end also takes place in the beginning. A movie that may relate to this book is Back to the Future. I give this book a five star rating.
Characterization: Jack Lund is the main character in the book Mr. Was. Jack has a very kind mom and they are very close also. Jackś dad on the other hand is an alcoholic which he only tears the family apart. Jackś mom dies and he thinks going back to the past can help. Jack tries to stop his dad from killing his mom but before that he must remember his own future. Jack also falls in love with his own family when he goes to the past. All of this is just the opposite of Back to the Future with Martyś mom falling for Marty. Jack is a kind, smart and young kid who could´ve had a future but is only ruined by the past.
Summary/Plot: Jack was laying in bed when he heard the home phone ring. His mother told him that her father was in the hospital and she wanted to go see him before he died. Jack’s mother dragged him into the trip from Chicago to Memory, Minnesota. He went with his mom to Memory that held under one hundred people. They went to see Jackś grandfather and just as Jack’s grandfather saw him, he had his hands around Jack’s neck trying as hard as he could to choke Jack. Soon after that, the EKG that was attached to Jack’s grandfather was flat. Jack and his mother then drove around in Memory to learn more about his grandfather’s past. During and after the funeral there seemed to be an invisible person his parents were talking about. When they went back home Jackś father took care of his drinking problems for some time because doing that only brought his family together. He started drinking again after a while, then, Jackś dad was arrested for brutally beating his Jack and his mom. Jack and his mom when to live in the house that Jackś grandpa Skoro had owned. In that house Jack found a metal door in a secret room that seemed to bring him way back into the past. After Jackś dad was released from jail he came and lived with his wife and Jack. He says he was not an alcoholic anymore. After a while it isn't a secret anymore that he is drinking again. Jackś parents started to fight again and Jack wanted to do something different, so he grabbed a bat and went after his dad. His dad was hit in the hip but after that swing Jack took his dad grabbed the bat and came walking after him. Jack's mom who was already beaten up came after her husband, but as soon as he turned around and saw her he hit her in the head as hard as he could with the metal bat. Jack ran back to see what happened and when he saw, he wasn't happy with what the result of the fight was. Jack slept next to his dead mom on the stairs till the next morning. After Jack woke up he headed for the metal door because his only other friends were behind there. Jack went through that door and lived the rest of his life behind there and only headed back through it once more to meet back up with the woman of his dreams.
Recommendation: I recommend this book to anybody over the age of ten. I recommend this book to that age group because to really understand what is going on takes a lot of thinking and flashbacks. Readers must be warned to remember a lot because a lot of the book in the end also takes place in the beginning. A movie that may relate to this book is Back to the Future. I give this book a five star rating.
Characterization: Jack Lund is the main character in the book Mr. Was. Jack has a very kind mom and they are very close also. Jackś dad on the other hand is an alcoholic which he only tears the family apart. Jackś mom dies and he thinks going back to the past can help. Jack tries to stop his dad from killing his mom but before that he must remember his own future. Jack also falls in love with his own family when he goes to the past. All of this is just the opposite of Back to the Future with Martyś mom falling for Marty. Jack is a kind, smart and young kid who could´ve had a future but is only ruined by the past.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 30, 2019
This book had some great time travel twists and a cool timeline. There's one problem with this book, and it's big enough for me to knock out three stars. The things done in this book are done much better by other time travel books I've read. This seemed like a watered down version of those books (and movies) for a teen audience that took from other stories that had similar concepts with much more original concepts and characters. Speaking of characters, there's only one interesting character, and he's not even the main character. So while this book was good, it really pales in comparison to other books I've read.
July 4, 2010
This is such a great sci-fi book!!! I really enjoyed it. It took me a weekend. Pete sucked me into the story and I held my breath until it was done.
February 22, 2018
I love pete hautman, after reading this though....i just don't want to read his books now! Not a favorable ending
June 5, 2017
Wow! Just wow! Read this book in just a few hours, as I was totally riveted! Loved the characters.....intense and human....
July 8, 2024
I picked up this book from my jr. high’s library (7th grade) one day and remember being captivated by the story and the twist. I remember it being disturbing and when I told people about it they gave me disgusted look.
I returned the book before the end of 7th grade and continued my life. Every few years, I would think about this book and how strange it was, but I could never remember the name. More aspects bothered me, why was a disturbing story in a junior high library? Did I imagine this book? Was it so weird that it was just a dream? ( how ironic given the story)
Yesterday, I was thinking about this book on a delayed flight and decided to kill time by searching every detail I could remember.
After 4 hours, I finally found the title in an obscure Reddit post and decided to re-read. I’m amazed which details I remembered (the twist, the tone, some sentences word for word) and what was completely wiped from my memory.
Overall, this book was less disturbing than I remember. It’s one of those unique books that has a bland tone, but a great plot to keep you going. I consider this to be more of short story than a book.
I can now understand why it was in my junior high library. This story deals with themes of family, war, deductive reasoning, and is a great intro into open interpretations.
4 stars for a great plot, but knock off one star for the disturbing twist being so casual and brushed over.
I returned the book before the end of 7th grade and continued my life. Every few years, I would think about this book and how strange it was, but I could never remember the name. More aspects bothered me, why was a disturbing story in a junior high library? Did I imagine this book? Was it so weird that it was just a dream? ( how ironic given the story)
Yesterday, I was thinking about this book on a delayed flight and decided to kill time by searching every detail I could remember.
After 4 hours, I finally found the title in an obscure Reddit post and decided to re-read. I’m amazed which details I remembered (the twist, the tone, some sentences word for word) and what was completely wiped from my memory.
Overall, this book was less disturbing than I remember. It’s one of those unique books that has a bland tone, but a great plot to keep you going. I consider this to be more of short story than a book.
I can now understand why it was in my junior high library. This story deals with themes of family, war, deductive reasoning, and is a great intro into open interpretations.
4 stars for a great plot, but knock off one star for the disturbing twist being so casual and brushed over.
June 13, 2012
This is a book about Jack Lund’s life – as it is, or how it was or perhaps how it will be. In case you are wondering whether I lost my mind, Mr Was is a time travel story. It is crafted around 5 mysterious notebooks found in a briefcase lost at sea and it opens in chronological order (or does it?) with the first notebook. Jack is a 13 year-old boy, trapped in a home with an abusive, alcoholic father and a loving mother who wants to believe in the few redeeming qualities of her husband. It all starts when Jack and his mother travel back to Memory, her childhood town, to visit his dying grandfather. After his death, the family moves into the grandfather’s grand house where mysterious things have happened (or will happen). There, Jack finds a door that takes him 50 years back in time. At first travelling in time is nothing but a fun pastime until tragedy strikes Jack’s family in his own timeline and it becomes imperative that he goes back in time in order to prevent it.
To say more of the summary would unforgivably spoil the book and its many twists. Suffice it to say that in terms of plotting, Mr Was is as brilliant as any time travel book should be. Equally brilliant is its clever choice of narrative format as a presentation of these notebooks (written by Jack or mostly by Jack) as a journalistic-type of story constructed as fact. As awesome as the plot development and the narrative choices are though Mr Was truly succeeds when it comes to its main character and its thematic core.
Jack’s departure to the past effectively means leaving his own timeline for good but that is a sacrifice he is willing to make and is a good qualifier about his character and about how much his family means to him. Unfortunately for Jack, his temporal displacement is only the beginning of his troubles and there is a lot he goes through until he gets to the point he wants. It has to be said that there is a certain amount of predictability in the plot: because Jack’s time travelling is only temporal displacement (as opposed to time AND space), it is fairly easy to guess who, exactly, are the people that Jack is meeting back in time. The fun part is to be able follow him and see how it affects his life (and the lives of those he meets). I also LOVED how the author basically played around with the idea of the Grandfather Paradox.
I do use the word “fun” and “play” with a lot of caution. Because Mr Was is a freaking tragic book. Peter Hautman does not hold back from all the possible repercussions of messing up with time and he also does not pull punches when it comes to realistic portraying how time travel completely messes up the life of his main character. But Mr Was works not only as a mystery and as a thriller but also as a Contemporary YA work about a young boy and his family; and the portrayal of Jack’s family and their dynamics of abuse is painfully graphic and genuine.
Which brings me to Mr Was’s universal themes and how the author explores certain ideas. Can the past be changed? How about changing the future within one’s own timeline? Can things be altered? Can people change – Jack’s father’s promises of change are accepted wholeheartedly by both Jack and his mother but can that change happen without help? Are Jack and his mother wrong in trying to forgive the horrible abuse they suffer? How about love? Can a person control who they love or fall in love with? The proposition here is that all of it is irrevocable but is it really?
All that said, a few other things are worth mentioning. First of all, there is no explanation about the mechanics of time travel (how does the door work? Why? How come its time travel skills cover only batches of 50 years each time?) but I didn’t feel this deterred my connection to the novel. In fact, most of the best time travel stories for me are not those that necessarily explain how it happens but that brilliantly – like this one –develop what can happen once you do it. Secondly, Jack is a 13 year old boy who grew up in the 90s – as such he plays games, watches TV and he is really good with a Mac. He goes back to the 40s, and starts work as a farmhand and not once does he seem to feel the huge difference between the two timelines – he doesn’t seem to miss any of the 90s’ amusements a boy his age used to enjoy. Granted, he has a huge motivation for being in the 40s which could explain why he doesn’t feel the historical backlash. Still, the novel felt oddly lacking in that front.
Despite those minor criticisms, Mr Was is a thought-provoking, gut-wrenching, incredibly diverting time travel story. And it has cemented Pete Hautman as a new favourite author.
To say more of the summary would unforgivably spoil the book and its many twists. Suffice it to say that in terms of plotting, Mr Was is as brilliant as any time travel book should be. Equally brilliant is its clever choice of narrative format as a presentation of these notebooks (written by Jack or mostly by Jack) as a journalistic-type of story constructed as fact. As awesome as the plot development and the narrative choices are though Mr Was truly succeeds when it comes to its main character and its thematic core.
Jack’s departure to the past effectively means leaving his own timeline for good but that is a sacrifice he is willing to make and is a good qualifier about his character and about how much his family means to him. Unfortunately for Jack, his temporal displacement is only the beginning of his troubles and there is a lot he goes through until he gets to the point he wants. It has to be said that there is a certain amount of predictability in the plot: because Jack’s time travelling is only temporal displacement (as opposed to time AND space), it is fairly easy to guess who, exactly, are the people that Jack is meeting back in time. The fun part is to be able follow him and see how it affects his life (and the lives of those he meets). I also LOVED how the author basically played around with the idea of the Grandfather Paradox.
I do use the word “fun” and “play” with a lot of caution. Because Mr Was is a freaking tragic book. Peter Hautman does not hold back from all the possible repercussions of messing up with time and he also does not pull punches when it comes to realistic portraying how time travel completely messes up the life of his main character. But Mr Was works not only as a mystery and as a thriller but also as a Contemporary YA work about a young boy and his family; and the portrayal of Jack’s family and their dynamics of abuse is painfully graphic and genuine.
Which brings me to Mr Was’s universal themes and how the author explores certain ideas. Can the past be changed? How about changing the future within one’s own timeline? Can things be altered? Can people change – Jack’s father’s promises of change are accepted wholeheartedly by both Jack and his mother but can that change happen without help? Are Jack and his mother wrong in trying to forgive the horrible abuse they suffer? How about love? Can a person control who they love or fall in love with? The proposition here is that all of it is irrevocable but is it really?
All that said, a few other things are worth mentioning. First of all, there is no explanation about the mechanics of time travel (how does the door work? Why? How come its time travel skills cover only batches of 50 years each time?) but I didn’t feel this deterred my connection to the novel. In fact, most of the best time travel stories for me are not those that necessarily explain how it happens but that brilliantly – like this one –develop what can happen once you do it. Secondly, Jack is a 13 year old boy who grew up in the 90s – as such he plays games, watches TV and he is really good with a Mac. He goes back to the 40s, and starts work as a farmhand and not once does he seem to feel the huge difference between the two timelines – he doesn’t seem to miss any of the 90s’ amusements a boy his age used to enjoy. Granted, he has a huge motivation for being in the 40s which could explain why he doesn’t feel the historical backlash. Still, the novel felt oddly lacking in that front.
Despite those minor criticisms, Mr Was is a thought-provoking, gut-wrenching, incredibly diverting time travel story. And it has cemented Pete Hautman as a new favourite author.
April 6, 2019
you can simply guess the big twist in this one, but it hold its thrill till the very end, and man there ARE some twists and turns that you will NOT predict.
I loved how it was narrated, the idea of the suitcase, and the four parts....
and as short as it was, this novel was heavy, and sad to a stretch, and still I can't comprehend what I read. Your mind will twirl with the truth.
one thing am sure about is that am glad that I picked it up....it was a good read indeed.
not going to talk about the plot, cos it is better read with no spoilers whatsoever .
I loved how it was narrated, the idea of the suitcase, and the four parts....
and as short as it was, this novel was heavy, and sad to a stretch, and still I can't comprehend what I read. Your mind will twirl with the truth.
one thing am sure about is that am glad that I picked it up....it was a good read indeed.
not going to talk about the plot, cos it is better read with no spoilers whatsoever .
December 30, 2016
I can't think of what to write because it blew my mind....... :D
It's a short book, small and unassuming on the outside. It hasn't won any awards (it should!) and I had not heard of it... I never guessed what I was about to read.
The best parts of the book is all the stuff you don't know about it when you begin; its twists and turns. There is also something strangely endearing as you follow Jack as he travels through time and his life--you want him to survive his troubles, and somehow win. For me, I first followed him patiently, slowly becoming more and more engrossed in his story.
It gets (for lack of a better word) intense, so pay attention while you read it. I'm not saying that author Hautman wrote it purposefully to confuse you-- it is just complicated and demands a more experienced reader. You will be (or at least, I was) satisfied by the end--not confused.
I've read about time travel, but never quite like this. I want to say more but I don't want to ruin it for new readers, so that will be in the spoiler(s). It is a gripping read once you are deep within it so make sure to have enough time to finish it!
July 2, 2014
I find I truly love Hautman's novels, and this book only furthers my admiration for him.
"Mr. Was" has as its basis the idea of time travel and it is a distinctly different way than I think the idea is usually thought of. It thinks of the topic in a way I deeply sympathize with and have had some ideas close to it before hand but had no idea how to express them. Here comes Pete Hautman, with his writing talent, and he perfectly explains this conception of time travel in a sentence (more or less free of spoilers): everything is already accounted for, therefore time travel in all its incarnations is accounted for.
The idea rests on a few key philosophical ideas (most importantly of determinism/fate vs. free will), but if backwards time travel were to be possible in anyway, it would require a Hautman-esque time travel structure.
Beyond the interesting philosophy of "Mr. Was", the actually prose of the book was very good. In the beginning of the book I felt the way it was written to express it being written by a teenager and as it goes on you see development in how the narrator writes.
Also, I felt a deep pathos for all the characters, along with anger and hatred to a few key characters, but again this reveals some strengths of Hautman. The strength is that he doesn't appear to create the ultimate villain; he introduces complexity to the insane and the mean in his novels in a way that some writers could learn. You learn to understand the characters as being human before you understand them as being evil.
The plot pulls the reader in quite easily, because it is a profoundly interesting narrative in how it is told. Yes, there are some missing bits, but it only adds to help the story go along and continuing to pull you into a labyrinth with upset, love, death, and more death around every corner.
I definitely recommend this book to anyone with a fascination with time travel or who likes mystery-type books.
"Mr. Was" has as its basis the idea of time travel and it is a distinctly different way than I think the idea is usually thought of. It thinks of the topic in a way I deeply sympathize with and have had some ideas close to it before hand but had no idea how to express them. Here comes Pete Hautman, with his writing talent, and he perfectly explains this conception of time travel in a sentence (more or less free of spoilers): everything is already accounted for, therefore time travel in all its incarnations is accounted for.
The idea rests on a few key philosophical ideas (most importantly of determinism/fate vs. free will), but if backwards time travel were to be possible in anyway, it would require a Hautman-esque time travel structure.
Beyond the interesting philosophy of "Mr. Was", the actually prose of the book was very good. In the beginning of the book I felt the way it was written to express it being written by a teenager and as it goes on you see development in how the narrator writes.
Also, I felt a deep pathos for all the characters, along with anger and hatred to a few key characters, but again this reveals some strengths of Hautman. The strength is that he doesn't appear to create the ultimate villain; he introduces complexity to the insane and the mean in his novels in a way that some writers could learn. You learn to understand the characters as being human before you understand them as being evil.
The plot pulls the reader in quite easily, because it is a profoundly interesting narrative in how it is told. Yes, there are some missing bits, but it only adds to help the story go along and continuing to pull you into a labyrinth with upset, love, death, and more death around every corner.
I definitely recommend this book to anyone with a fascination with time travel or who likes mystery-type books.
September 26, 2017
Some people love reading books on their spare time, then there's me. I’m one of those people who don’t like to read at all, but this book was something different. It starts out normal describing the characters and getting you to know them. I won’t spoil anything but right in the beginning you find out that Jack's parents don’t have the best love relationship. For the reason being that his dad drinks a lot but I will let you find out what happens later on in the book. Later after a few chapters it picks up after he walks through a hidden door at his grandpa's house that takes him back in time, before his parents were born. This book is different from the others ones i've read it makes you want to keep on reading to find out what’s going to happen next. Then when it does it makes you connect everything that is happening in the book together. Then you realize why everything that happened clicks right in. I liked how it had a good ending with everything explained instead of those books that end without any explanation. It makes you wonder what you would do if you were in Jack’s situation. I feel like the book could have been longer other then that it was amazing. I don’t think this book could improve any more than what it is because it does such a great job getting your attention the whole 259 pages from the beginning till the end thanks to “Pete Hatman” the author. I would recommend this to the people who are looking for a book that has adventure, hype, and that is unpredictable, then this is the book for you. The thing is that I would recommend this book to teenagers and adults for some reasons.
March 3, 2015
A young adult time travel novel you say. No doubt it will be simplistic even juvenile. It is bound to tread familiar ground. These statements could not be farther from the truth. In fact, the only clue to this being written for a younger audience is the complete lack of expletives. I actually found this refreshing and not for prudish reasons but for the author's need to be more selective in word choice.
So many aspects of this book work. The plotting is fresh, intriguing and entertaining throughout. There are layers of decent complexity and surprises that run to the very last page. We follow teenager Jack Lund back in time. Jack is on a mission to right a horrible wrong. There is such grit behind this premise that, once again, the YA classification does not seem accurate. I must admit that I rushed the book. It felt as if I was flipping pages like I did in my youth when when a new comic arrived on the stands. Hautman gives the reader, regardless of age, credit for their intellect. This was fun, fast and entertaining. I look forward to rereading it in time. By the way, after finishing it I read more about the author and love his quirky biographies on Amazon and his website.
So many aspects of this book work. The plotting is fresh, intriguing and entertaining throughout. There are layers of decent complexity and surprises that run to the very last page. We follow teenager Jack Lund back in time. Jack is on a mission to right a horrible wrong. There is such grit behind this premise that, once again, the YA classification does not seem accurate. I must admit that I rushed the book. It felt as if I was flipping pages like I did in my youth when when a new comic arrived on the stands. Hautman gives the reader, regardless of age, credit for their intellect. This was fun, fast and entertaining. I look forward to rereading it in time. By the way, after finishing it I read more about the author and love his quirky biographies on Amazon and his website.
May 25, 2021
I found this book tucked into an old shelf of my middle school library and I still think about it to this day, over ten years later. The story just sticks with you, the sadness and confusion of the story stay with you. A book I will recommend 'til the day I die!
Read
October 23, 2018My favorite passage was when Jack stumbles in a magical metal door that permits him to travel back in time.The book seem kind of realistic because it contains scientific fiction.The series of World War II.His old memories.I like this book because it has mysteries that you can try to solve during your reading experience.The book did not change my perspective about anything throughout my reading experience,however,the information of the series of the World War II was interesting to take a research of.The characters were believable,I would relate this character named jack as my uncle.The book made me feel surprised,I was not angry at the book,I was not sad at the book as well.The characters did not have anything common in the book.The favorite thing about the book is when jack stumbles into a magical metal door that permits to go back in time.
November 26, 2008
Ms. Walsh's Book Club, which meets Fridays at 2:20, just finished this novel and Haewon just turned in a Post Card. From what I've read from yer card it has to do with Time Travel, WWII, a terrible man and a choice that the protagonist (son) has to make. Haewon was not a happy camper at how this one ended, but it sounds fascinating. Can't go wrong with TIME TRAVEL!!!!
11-25
Trippy! Well done, with some great little twists that were original and provocative. Imagine you're 15, going back in time to try and change your mother's future. You get a little side-tracked, fall in love, fight in a war and finally get back to where you started. Will Jack save his mother? This is the perfect trippy read.
11-25
Trippy! Well done, with some great little twists that were original and provocative. Imagine you're 15, going back in time to try and change your mother's future. You get a little side-tracked, fall in love, fight in a war and finally get back to where you started. Will Jack save his mother? This is the perfect trippy read.
September 26, 2017
Mr was started really simple with teen boy (Jake) and family problems and father with drinking issues and simple realistic fiction but, after Jake arrived at the boggs's end and found the door and the story turned very fiction, time travelling, mistrey, door that travel against time and really huge plot twist and and confusing.
I picked up the story rhythm okay and I discovered things in the middle before happening that was easy but, there were things that really were surprising and enjoyable.
I mean the main character Jake was born in 1972 and his life ended in 1952 ??!!
Pete hautman the author included himself in the novel as he was trying to find what happened from Mr. boggs at the house but it remained a mystery.
Really captivating and should be read.
I picked up the story rhythm okay and I discovered things in the middle before happening that was easy but, there were things that really were surprising and enjoyable.
I mean the main character Jake was born in 1972 and his life ended in 1952 ??!!
Pete hautman the author included himself in the novel as he was trying to find what happened from Mr. boggs at the house but it remained a mystery.
Really captivating and should be read.
November 2, 2008
Mr. Was is a good book, but it is more directed towards a middle school reader than a person in high school.
The beginning is pretty good, but the middle and ending parts kind of ruin the rest of the story.
The plot is good, but the characters need a bit more development.
There wasn't really anything to learn from the book, it is more to read for fun, but it is not something I recommend to read right away.
The beginning is pretty good, but the middle and ending parts kind of ruin the rest of the story.
The plot is good, but the characters need a bit more development.
There wasn't really anything to learn from the book, it is more to read for fun, but it is not something I recommend to read right away.
May 23, 2018
I thought that I was not going to like this book, but in the end I ended up really liking it. I thought it was cool when he goes threw the door and it brings him to past time. I thought that the author did a good job using discriptive words. I also thought that the author did a good job at making you feel like I was right there living in the book.
Want to read
January 13, 2015Ok, Mr Hautman, I am going to give you another chance, because I did enjoy Sweetblood until you pulled a parental bait-and-switch and the end.
December 2, 2010
Complex and addicting. The narration starts out slow and wordy, but soon things start to pick up and you can't put it down. Welcome to the world of destiny and time-travel. A familliar tale with a shocking twist at the end.
October 4, 2011
This book was REALLY weird! The plot is a huge puzzle and I couldn't image where it was going to lead me. The more I got into it the more interesting it got. There is a graphic violence scene that was disturbing, but overall, the book was interesting.
Read
April 19, 2012I like this book a lot. It is a book that shows the true side of a family that can get brutal. it show the adventure of the main character that he will never forget. I recommend this book to people that like a book about family problems, adventures and Time Travel??
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