A quirky, colloquial time-traveling novel by Share (The Emergency
) carries two men back to their days at Trinity College circa 1949. Two aging salesmen run into each other at an airport somewhere in the Arab world; disoriented by passing through numerous time zones and unsure whether they have met before, they have drinks and fall into a familiar banter before one of them, known by his school nickname, A N Other, discovers a secret chamber in the men's room. There, the clothes and currency are throwbacks, the clocks have stopped and the inhabitants are discussing the declaration of the Irish Republic. Other and Rimmer, as his companion is called, travel to 1949 and 1950 and wander about Trinity, where they recall their student days and learn how one of Rimmer's romantic mishaps later turns out to be quite the opposite for Other. It's quaint and fun, though the oddballness sometimes comes across as too orchestrated. (May)
