Bewilderment

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2021

THE BRAND NEW NOVEL FROM THE PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING, BOOKER PRIZE-SHORTLISTED AUTHOR OF THE OVERSTORY

'
It changed how I thought about the Earth and our place in it. . . . It changed how I see things and that's always, for me, a mark of a book worth reading.' Barack Obama on The Overstory
'Really, just one of the best novels, period.' Ann Patchett on The Overstory
'Breathtaking.' Barbara Kingsolver on The Overstory
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Picked as one of the 'Best Books of 2021' in the Sunday Times

Theo Byrne is a promising young astrobiologist who has found a way to search for life on other planets dozens of light years away. He is also the widowed father of a most unusual nine-year-old. His son Robin is funny, loving, and filled with plans. He thinks and feels deeply, adores animals, and can spend hours painting elaborate pictures. He is also on the verge of being expelled from third grade, for smashing his friend's face with a metal thermos.

What can a father do, when the only solution offered to his rare and troubled boy is to put him on psychoactive drugs? What can he say when his boy comes to him wanting an explanation for a world that is clearly in love with its own destruction? The only thing for it is to take the boy to other planets, while all the while fostering his son's desperate campaign to help save this one.
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'The best book I've read in 10 years. A remarkable piece of literature ... a lodestone.' Emma Thompson on The Overstory

'Radical and exciting.' Jessie Burton on The Overstory

'A remarkable piece of fiction.' New York Times on The Overstory

'An extraordinary novel.' Guardian on The Overstory

© Richard Powers 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

Critics Review

He composes some of the most beautiful sentences I've ever read. I'm in awe of his talent
Oprah Winfrey
Both touching and finely written
Daily Telegraph
Deftly crafted . . . packs an emotional punch
Daily Mail
Heartfelt . . . with fantastical digressions to other planets and a rueful celebration of our own
Guardian
Powers has the rare gift of being able to deal with big ideas while keeping you interested in the lives and emotions of his characters
Sebastian Faulks
Beautiful and thoughtfully written
Good Housekeeping
A compelling story about love in a dying world
Irish Independent
It is impossible to deny the importance of Powers's message
Sunday Times
Powers is . . . a wizard when it comes to telling us about trees, rivers, insects and birds
Spectator
Extraordinary . . . Powers's insightful, often poetic prose draws us at once more deeply toward the infinitude of the imagination
New York Times

User Reviews

Book 4.5
Narration 4.5
4.0
5.0
A beautiful but very sad book
robinh 20/10/2024
5.0
4.0
Brilliant and touching
So real and relevant
natalielistening 24/04/2023

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