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Rick Moskovitz is a Harvard educated psychiatrist and vintage being, who had the privilege for 37 years of sharing in his patients’ stories while leading his own imperfect life. He is the author of LOST IN THE MIRROR: AN INSIDE LOOK AT BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER and CAROUSEL MUSIC: A NOVEL, based on the controversy around recovered memories in psychotherapy. He left practice to venture further into writing fiction that explores the psychological consequences of living in a world of expanding possibilities. THE METHUSELARITY TRANSFORMATION, his first science fiction work, arose out of pondering the complexities of a world in which immortality becomes conceivable and contemplating the emotional, moral, and societal impact of providing so weighty a choice.
Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite
The Methuselarity Transformation is a science fiction novel written by Rick Moskovitz. Marcus Takana has given up on his future, ever since the environmental calamity that impoverished his family when he was 22 years old and he joined the ranks of the data deprived. He’s repelled by the occupation of meat farming to which he seems condemned, and his only outlets are running, climbing, and riding his motorcycle, something considered highly risky in these modern hovercraft times. He was finishing his afternoon run on the Endless Park when he noticed out of the corner of his eye a young woman with startlingly red hair. She seemed to be monitoring him on a display, but when he was briefly distracted and turned back again, she was gone. When he finished his run, however, she reappeared. Her name was Terra, and she had an astonishing proposal for him. A wealthy individual wanted to buy the rights to Marcus’ body for a mind transferal at the time of that individual’s death. Until that time, Marcus would be fabulously wealthy and able to live those unfulfilled dreams of his youth. He realized that it was a devilish proposal which could lead to his death in as little as a matter of days, but it was a chance he could not afford to pass up.
Rick Moskovitz’s science fiction novel, The Methuselarity Transformation, is set in a chilling but all-too-believable near-future where climate change and environmental excess have created a drastically changed world. The author posits a number of thought-provoking ethical questions in his work, including: should a person have the right to purchase another’s future; should access to knowledge be limited to those who can pay for it; and is it moral to market an eternal life formula that only the rich can afford or should it be repressed until everyone can access it? And he does this in a compelling and fast-paced story about two men whose lives repeatedly and ultimately intersect. I found myself considering Marcus and Ray and pondering how alike in some crucial ways they are, and how different, and I was chilled by the spectre of a world reeling from environmental catastrophe. The Methuselarity Transformation reminded me somewhat of the pioneering futuristic movie, Blade Runner, but at the same time it was reminiscent of Dickens’ classic Tale of Two Cities. Actually, if I were hard-pressed to offer a few other influences I felt or imagined reading this most intriguing tale, I’m sure I could do so -- and that’s a good thing. I was that involved and invested in the story and the two men who are its heroes. The Methuselarity Transformation is most highly recommended.
