Again and Again

A Novel

By: Jonathan Evison

Narrated by: Robert Fass

Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

From one of America’s greatest, most creative novelists comes Again and Again, a poignant and endlessly surprising story about love lost, found, and redeemed

Eugene “Geno” Miles is living out his final days in a nursing home, bored, curmudgeonly, and struggling to connect with his new nursing assistant, Angel, who is understandably skeptical of Geno’s insistence on having lived not just one life but many—all the way back to medieval Spain, where, as a petty thief, he first lucked upon true love only to lose it, and spend the next thousand years trying to recapture it.

Who is Geno? A lonely old man clinging to his delusions and rehearsing his fantasies, or a legitimate anomaly, a thousand-year-old man who continues to search for the love he lost so long ago?

As Angel comes to learn the truth about Geno, so, too, does the reader, and as his miraculous story comes to a head, so does the biggest truth of all: that love—timeless, often elusive—is sometimes right in front of us.

©2023 Jonathan Evison (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

One of New York Post's Best New Books Out This Week

Featured in Los Angeles Times' "Books to Read in November"

One of Good Housekeeping's Best Books of Fall 2023

One of The Seattle Times' Must-Read Fall Books

One of Literary Hub's Most Anticipated Books of 2023

“A yearning meditation on the nature of love, fate and how our past(s) might determine our future.” —The New York Times

"The joy of watching Evison braid together multiple stories from Eugene’s lives (and the 105 years of this existence) is akin to witnessing a master carpet weaver work out a fantastically intricate rug…In revealing the tricks of his trade, its author exposes the tender heart of his craft.” —The Los Angeles Times

Psychological slow burn

Be sure to get past the first 20 minutes and the book will slowly engross you and surprise you. (Especially for those that think they can’t learn anything from an Octegenarian….)

Nothing is What it Seems

The author did a pretty remarkable job of keeping me simultaneously engaged and off-balance in this wildly unpredictable and thoughtful narrative. Though I would have loved to have met some of the peripheral characters a bit more, there was a lot to balance, here, and I can see why the author made the decisions he did. The ending is very moving. I will definitely be reading more of Evison's books.

Jumbled and slow

The book is a little cluttered. It jumps all over the place and is hard to follow and the dialogue is really clunky in a lot of the flashbacks.

Beautifully perfect ending!

Sometimes the going back and forth became a little tedious, but overall I loved the humanness of every character and the deft humor Evison infused throughout the story.

I never knew where this was going. It was very touching and I think it had a great message for the reader.

I liked that I was taken on so many journeys never knowing where it would lead.

A sort of love in its many forms

I enjoyed every minute of this story and didn’t want it to ever end. The stories, as told by Eugene, were captivating.

A wonderfully human story

While the storyline jumped around a bit with minimal transition, the delivery and message were touching.

Again and Again

This story wrecked me. Geno needing acceptance and the people that were there for him. can't wait to read more by Jonathan Evison.

Brings out all your emotions!

I promise I didn’t cry until the end, although I could have in a few parts more. The characters keep you laughing, make you mad, and of course have you in some tears. The narration of this book was done so well. I will truly miss these characters! Great book!

The importance of caring

It’s the heart felt development of a companionship between a caregiver and a curmudgeon which benefits both. There are interesting trips into memories or delusions of past lives. The authors writing skills and interesting background gives a unique perspective to caregiving and caring