The Little Book, Selden Edwards
The Little Book, Selden Edwards
1 Rating(s)
List: $25.00 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.50

The Little Book

Author: Selden Edwards

Narrator: Jeff Woodman

Unabridged: 15 hr

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 08/14/2008


Synopsis

A marvelous debut novel about love and basketball, time travel and rock'n'roll. 

Thirty years in the writing, Selden Edwards' dazzling first novel is an irresistible triumph of the imagination. Wheeler Burden-banking heir, philosopher, student of history, legend's son, rock idol, writer, lover, recluse, half-Jew, and Harvard baseball hero-one day finds himself wandering not in his hometown of San Francisco in 1988 but in a city and time he knows mysteriously well: Vienna, 1897.

Before long, Wheeler acquires a mentor in Sigmund Freud, a bitter rival, a powerful crush on a luminous young woman, and encounters everyone from an eight-year-old Adolf Hitler to Mark Twain as well as the young members of his own family. Solving the riddle of Wheeler's dislocation in time will ultimately reveal nothing short of one eccentric family's unrivaled impact upon the course of human history.

Edwards brilliantly weaves romance, art, sci-fi, history, and culture in this unforgettable debut novel. A great YA read for those looking for a true adventure!

About The Author

Selden Edwards began writing The Little Book as a young English teacher in 1974, and continued to layer and refine the manuscript until its completion in 2007. He most recently authored The Lost Prince. He spent his career as headmaster at several independent schools across the country, and for over forty years has been secretary of his class at Princeton, where he also played basketball. He lives in Santa Barbara, California.


Reviews

I really wanted to give this book three stars but I just can't. To me it seemed like a case of a wonderful idea, sort of Jack Finney Meets John Irving, coming unfortunately to someone who just doesn't have the skill or the ease to realize it effectively. The writing itself is perfectly sound and literat......more

Goodreads review by Susan

I wanted so much to like it, to get all caught up in it. I kept reading cause I thought there would come a resolution of voices, historical characters intermingled with fictional ones, some reason to have gotten to the end. But when the end came I was so glad to put the book down. I wanted to explo......more

Goodreads review by Ron

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Goodreads review by Darrin

Time-travel tales, as intricate as they are, require a special touch, a unique understanding of cause and effect. As such they are incredibly easy to write poorly and at the same time quite difficult to write well. There is a long tradition to the cyclical nature of these tales, beginning, arguably w......more

Goodreads review by Kerry

Do you like stories about love, music, and time travel? Do you enjoy a dash of celebrity and a sprinkling of intertwining history? Are you inspired by creative teachers and talented storytellers? If the answer is yes, you should read this book! I began this book somewhat apprehensively (not always s......more


Quotes

"A soaring thing of joy whose only purpose-and I mean this as a compliment-is to delight and entertain."
-Maureen Corrigan, Fresh Air

"Delightfully mad. . .a thrilling adventure."
-San Francisco Chronicle

"The product of a writer in full command of his gifts."
-Louisville Courier-Journal

"A wide-ranging novel of grand ideas. . .a graceful waltz of a book, spinning at times at dizzying speed, but leaving behind a haunting, unforgettable melody."
-New Orleans Times-Picayune

"Back to the Future for the intellectual set."
-Entertainment Weekly

"Inventive, bracing, poignant and well written. . . it should be at the top of everyone's summer reading list."
-Tucson Citizen

"It's hard not to be thoroughly taken with such an approach to both the real and imagined past."
-New York Daily News

"Required reading."
-New York Post