We All Looked Up
by Tommy Wallach
Expected publication: March 26th 2015 by Simon & Schuster UK
Four high school seniors put their hopes, hearts, and humanity on the line as an asteroid hurtles toward Earth in this contemporary novel.
They always say that high school is the best time of your life.
Peter, the star basketball player at his school, is worried “they” might actually be right. Meanwhile Eliza can’t wait to escape Seattle—and her reputation—and perfect-on-paper Anita wonders if admission to Princeton is worth the price of abandoning her real dreams. Andy, for his part, doesn’t understand all the fuss about college and career—the future can wait.
Or can it? Because it turns out the future is hurtling through space with the potential to wipe out life on Earth. As these four seniors—along with the rest of the planet—wait to see what damage an asteroid will cause, they must abandon all thoughts of the future and decide how they’re going to spend what remains of the present.
You didn’t win the game of life by losing the least. That would be one of those—what were they called again?—Pyrrhic victories. Real winning was having the most to lose, even if it meant you might lose it all. Even though it meant you would lose it all, sooner or later.
And so they waited, together, for whatever was coming next.
Oh, it's not a book, it's a life hack. Imagine that you all are going to die soon. What would you do? Would you live on, as if nothing unprecedented happened, or would you say fuck off to everything and go after your dream? One thing can be said for sure, our already hectic world would turn into chaos, and Tommy Wallach describes in detail the psychology of people in a similar situation.
The story is told from 4 POVs. Normally, I don`t like when we have so many of them, as it's a bit confusing, but, in this case, it felt very organic. All four characters are completely different people who have little in common:
Star basketball player Peter - he has a good family, the best girl in the school and a secure future. But one incident makes him wonder whether he wants to spend all his life on throwing balls or to retain a trace? Aren`t he capable of something more? Can`t he, just a boy, make a world better? I liked the non-standard description of Peter: he is a jock, and usually they are described as stupid. He also does not possess a brilliant mind, but his goodness and chastity can only be envied. Maybe it's because he is religious. I was impressed by how sincerely he wanted to do something important for the world, and though it's small things, they did a great good. Low bow to you, Peter, and Mr. Wallach for such a versatile character.
Next comes Eliza - a daredevil girl. They say you do not define your reputation, it defines you. After a school incident, Eliza confers a status of a slut, and, being a smart girl, decides not to bury her head in the sand, but to exploit the situation. Instead of ridicule from classmates, she receives the admiration and popularity. I warn you, this book is not for slutshamers. It`s not a novelty for this girl to sleep with the first comer, but why not, if she can afford it? Eliza`s life is hard, her mother fled to another country with her new fancy man, and her father is terminally ill. When the shit goes down, she finds relief in photography.
People have always said that photography is an attempt to capture something fleeting. And suddenly everything is fleeting. It’s like Ardor is this special tone of light we’ve never had before, and it’s shining down and infusing every single object and person on the planet. I just want to document that light, before it’s gone.
She honestly and openly takes the world as it is: the panic and chaos that reigns after the announcement that all mankind will soon die. Eliza becomes somewhat of a celebrity, thanks to her blog, where she shares her photos and news with the readers. For example, the announcement party of the Party at the End of the World.
Next is Anita - she has a rich family, she is a straight A-student, and generally a good girl. But no matter how sweet her life seems – it`s all an illusion. Her family loves her only for her success, they don`t accept failures. Anita lives their dream - she doesn`t want to go to Princeton , her soul craves to sing. But her father won`t hear about it – it`s not prestigious. Of all the characters, I liked her most – she`s sensible, intelligent, responsible. But also funny, sometimes desperate and definitely loyal.
And, finally, Andy – a varmint, a sloven and a bone-lazy fellow. He can be characterized by one quote:
If only everything in life could be like that—effortless… If only you could get up when you wanted and eat some Cinnamon Toast Crunch and play some music and smoke a bowl and drive to school whenever and maybe take a class if you felt like it, if you were actually interested in it, and then just chill with your friends the rest of the time.
Andy doesn`t give a shit. Thoughts about future make him uncomfortable; he prefers to live the moment and do everything he wants. His parents also doesn`t seem to care about him, so he knows very little about limitations. All he thinks about are parties, weed, drinks and music. He has his own band, but it`s not particularly popular. As bad as it sounds, Andy is a good guy – he`s just a bit lost. He lives as best as he can under the influence of his friends-bandits. But deep down, he just wants someone to notice him.
And so would they live, if not for apocalypses. There is an asteroid that flies to the Earth, and 66.6% that all mankind will soon die.
Naturally, after such news you can`t live the way you did before. The only thing that bothers you, it's to to have a full life until it's all over. But people are divided into two types: those who only begin to fulfill their dreams and seek happiness, and those who have lost all common sense and stopped caring. The streets are full of chaos - there are no more boundaries, do what you want, because what's stopping you? We still all going to die soon.
Those who have much to hope and nothing to lose will always be dangerous. Well, a lot of people in the world have just started thinking that they don’t have anything left to lose, and it’s our job to protect you from them. I don’t want to scare you, but history tells us that whenever there’s panic, there’s death. It’s the way of the world.
This book is not about the apocalypse, but about human psychology. It just served as a factor that opened our true essence. I remember 2012 and the Mayan calendar, when we, too, were supposed to die. The only thing that saved us from the situation described in the book, is that very few of us believed in Armageddon. But even then, the news constantly reported on how people began to go crazy. Tommy Wallach was able to exactly convey the animalistic essence of humans - without embellishment. And that`s what I loved the most in this book.
The ending only confirmed my thoughts - I really hoped it would be just like that. Summing up, I can say that it`s psychologically plausible philosophical novel that has versatile characters you can`t not fall in love with. And yes, I have to mention the cover - I like it very much: it`s simple and at the same time fully shows what this story is about.
I hope to hear soon the news about next Tommy Wallach`s book, he definitely became one of my favorite authors.
You don’t wanna go out of this world with regrets. If there’s some-
thing you want to do, you do it. You take this life by the balls and you tell it that you existed.
They always say that high school is the best time of your life.
Peter, the star basketball player at his school, is worried “they” might actually be right. Meanwhile Eliza can’t wait to escape Seattle—and her reputation—and perfect-on-paper Anita wonders if admission to Princeton is worth the price of abandoning her real dreams. Andy, for his part, doesn’t understand all the fuss about college and career—the future can wait.
Or can it? Because it turns out the future is hurtling through space with the potential to wipe out life on Earth. As these four seniors—along with the rest of the planet—wait to see what damage an asteroid will cause, they must abandon all thoughts of the future and decide how they’re going to spend what remains of the present.
You didn’t win the game of life by losing the least. That would be one of those—what were they called again?—Pyrrhic victories. Real winning was having the most to lose, even if it meant you might lose it all. Even though it meant you would lose it all, sooner or later.
And so they waited, together, for whatever was coming next.
Oh, it's not a book, it's a life hack. Imagine that you all are going to die soon. What would you do? Would you live on, as if nothing unprecedented happened, or would you say fuck off to everything and go after your dream? One thing can be said for sure, our already hectic world would turn into chaos, and Tommy Wallach describes in detail the psychology of people in a similar situation.
The story is told from 4 POVs. Normally, I don`t like when we have so many of them, as it's a bit confusing, but, in this case, it felt very organic. All four characters are completely different people who have little in common:
Star basketball player Peter - he has a good family, the best girl in the school and a secure future. But one incident makes him wonder whether he wants to spend all his life on throwing balls or to retain a trace? Aren`t he capable of something more? Can`t he, just a boy, make a world better? I liked the non-standard description of Peter: he is a jock, and usually they are described as stupid. He also does not possess a brilliant mind, but his goodness and chastity can only be envied. Maybe it's because he is religious. I was impressed by how sincerely he wanted to do something important for the world, and though it's small things, they did a great good. Low bow to you, Peter, and Mr. Wallach for such a versatile character.
Next comes Eliza - a daredevil girl. They say you do not define your reputation, it defines you. After a school incident, Eliza confers a status of a slut, and, being a smart girl, decides not to bury her head in the sand, but to exploit the situation. Instead of ridicule from classmates, she receives the admiration and popularity. I warn you, this book is not for slutshamers. It`s not a novelty for this girl to sleep with the first comer, but why not, if she can afford it? Eliza`s life is hard, her mother fled to another country with her new fancy man, and her father is terminally ill. When the shit goes down, she finds relief in photography.
People have always said that photography is an attempt to capture something fleeting. And suddenly everything is fleeting. It’s like Ardor is this special tone of light we’ve never had before, and it’s shining down and infusing every single object and person on the planet. I just want to document that light, before it’s gone.
She honestly and openly takes the world as it is: the panic and chaos that reigns after the announcement that all mankind will soon die. Eliza becomes somewhat of a celebrity, thanks to her blog, where she shares her photos and news with the readers. For example, the announcement party of the Party at the End of the World.
Next is Anita - she has a rich family, she is a straight A-student, and generally a good girl. But no matter how sweet her life seems – it`s all an illusion. Her family loves her only for her success, they don`t accept failures. Anita lives their dream - she doesn`t want to go to Princeton , her soul craves to sing. But her father won`t hear about it – it`s not prestigious. Of all the characters, I liked her most – she`s sensible, intelligent, responsible. But also funny, sometimes desperate and definitely loyal.
And, finally, Andy – a varmint, a sloven and a bone-lazy fellow. He can be characterized by one quote:
If only everything in life could be like that—effortless… If only you could get up when you wanted and eat some Cinnamon Toast Crunch and play some music and smoke a bowl and drive to school whenever and maybe take a class if you felt like it, if you were actually interested in it, and then just chill with your friends the rest of the time.
Andy doesn`t give a shit. Thoughts about future make him uncomfortable; he prefers to live the moment and do everything he wants. His parents also doesn`t seem to care about him, so he knows very little about limitations. All he thinks about are parties, weed, drinks and music. He has his own band, but it`s not particularly popular. As bad as it sounds, Andy is a good guy – he`s just a bit lost. He lives as best as he can under the influence of his friends-bandits. But deep down, he just wants someone to notice him.
And so would they live, if not for apocalypses. There is an asteroid that flies to the Earth, and 66.6% that all mankind will soon die.
Naturally, after such news you can`t live the way you did before. The only thing that bothers you, it's to to have a full life until it's all over. But people are divided into two types: those who only begin to fulfill their dreams and seek happiness, and those who have lost all common sense and stopped caring. The streets are full of chaos - there are no more boundaries, do what you want, because what's stopping you? We still all going to die soon.
Those who have much to hope and nothing to lose will always be dangerous. Well, a lot of people in the world have just started thinking that they don’t have anything left to lose, and it’s our job to protect you from them. I don’t want to scare you, but history tells us that whenever there’s panic, there’s death. It’s the way of the world.
This book is not about the apocalypse, but about human psychology. It just served as a factor that opened our true essence. I remember 2012 and the Mayan calendar, when we, too, were supposed to die. The only thing that saved us from the situation described in the book, is that very few of us believed in Armageddon. But even then, the news constantly reported on how people began to go crazy. Tommy Wallach was able to exactly convey the animalistic essence of humans - without embellishment. And that`s what I loved the most in this book.
The ending only confirmed my thoughts - I really hoped it would be just like that. Summing up, I can say that it`s psychologically plausible philosophical novel that has versatile characters you can`t not fall in love with. And yes, I have to mention the cover - I like it very much: it`s simple and at the same time fully shows what this story is about.
I hope to hear soon the news about next Tommy Wallach`s book, he definitely became one of my favorite authors.
You don’t wanna go out of this world with regrets. If there’s some-
thing you want to do, you do it. You take this life by the balls and you tell it that you existed.
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