If you knew the exact date the Earth would be annihilated how would your life be different?  Now imagine having that knowledge literally from birth.  This is the position in which “Junior” finds himself in the novel Everything Matters! by Ron Currie, Jr.

This interesting book poses the philosophical question, “If the world is assured destruction, does anything really matter?”  Junior goes through his life, starting in the womb, hearing voices that inform him about events and people including the past, present and future.  He is told how his dad really lost part of his hand in Vietnam (a visit with a prostitute gone wrong), how to cure cancer and of course, the most terrifying knowledge – that in 36 years a comet will hit the Earth, destroying all human life.

Living with this knowledge is soul-crushing and leads Junior into a life of self-destruction and despair along with the people around him.  Each chapter is written from the perspective of a different character – Junior, his mother, father, brother and girlfriend, even the “voices” Junior hears, although the style and dialogue for each chapter are strikingly similar, at times making it hard to figure out who exactly is speaking.  A simple formatting change clues the reader in to when the “voices” are speaking, and their candor, bluntness and perspective about the events going are at times humorous, somber and often startling.  The voices know the burden of the knowledge they have given Junior but they maintain that there are still choices to be made, despite the seemingly inevitable situation.

Part sci-fi, part drama, part philosophy, Everything Matters is a thought-provoking, interesting read that makes you ask yourself, “What matters?”

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