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Special Topics in Calamity Physics


  • ISBN13: 9780143112129
  • Condition: NEW
  • Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Product Description
“Dazzling,” (People) “Exuberant,” (Vogue) “marvelously entertaining,” (The Dallas Morning News) Marisha Pessl’s mesmerizing debut has critics raving and heralds the arrival of a vibrant new voice in American fiction. At the center of this “cracking good read”4 is clever, deadpan Blue van Meer, who has a head full of literary, philosophical, scientific, and cinematic knowledge. But she could use some friends. Upon entering the elite St. Gallway school, sh… More >>

Special Topics in Calamity Physics

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  1. #1 by DM on March 26, 2010 - 1:32 pm

    I gave up at around page 50 or so. It wasn’t coming together and after skimming further and seeing it was all the same style (?) I said to heck with it. Seems I’m running more and more into books like this. Such as Hall, Steven – The Raw Shark Text, Haddon, Mark – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

    Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I’m getting Alzheimer’s

    Rating: 1 / 5

  2. #2 by Robin Stears on March 26, 2010 - 2:22 pm

    I probably shouldn’t even review this book because, quite frankly, I didn’t make it past page 49. The thought of slogging through another 450 pages gave me a headache. The only reason I got it in the first place was because of the title; I took physics in college and I’d never heard of Calamity Physics. I’m still not sure what it is.

    Maybe it’s just one of those slow-going books, but I couldn’t figure out where the heck it was going. That wasn’t even the worst part. Throughout the story, the narrator kept inserting references as though this were a nonfiction book, for example “(see “Basset Hound,” The Dictionary of Dogs, Vol. 1)” after describing one of her father’s girlfriends. Perhaps that was meant to be artsy-fartsy, but I found it extremely disconcerting. And not only that, she referred to other characters by titles instead of actual names, like “The Girlfriend Who Wore Nothing But Tight Tank Tops.” As a liberal arts major, I should have been able to appreciate all the literary references, but it wasn’t funny, it was smarmy.

    This is not a book I would recommend to anyone, simply because I couldn’t finish it myself. Then again, I thought Finnegan’s Wake by James Joyce was incomprehensible nonsense, and that’s a classic.

    Rating: 1 / 5

  3. #3 by Mark Flynn on March 26, 2010 - 2:49 pm

    Why did this book receive any good reviews? For all the verbal gymnastics, it is quite tedious and very boring.
    Rating: 1 / 5

  4. #4 by BookWoman/BookMan TV REVIEWS on March 26, 2010 - 5:10 pm

    The best book of the year. Impossible to put down, we loved it.”
    Rating: 5 / 5

  5. #5 by D. Sahr on March 26, 2010 - 5:55 pm

    This is a book brimming with life and cleverness and wit and intrigue. Pessl is a “raconteur” with finesse. Read this fantastic lady’s book on train, on plane, in bed, or simply instead… It’s sure to keep you wanting more, more, more!! I’m ready for bestseller number two!
    Rating: 5 / 5