Special Topics in Calamity Physics cover art

Special Topics in Calamity Physics

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Special Topics in Calamity Physics

By: Marisha Pessl
Narrated by: Emily Janice Card
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £25.99

Buy Now for £25.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Special Topics in Calamity Physics is a mesmerizing debut, uncannily uniting the trials of a postmodern upbringing with a murder mystery, heralds the arrival of a vibrant new voice in literary fiction. It has received rave reviews around the world and was shortlisted for the 2007 Quills Awards.

As teenager Blue van Meer tells her story we are hurled into a dizzying world of murder and butterflies, womanizing and wandering, American McCulture, The Western Canon, political radicalism and juvenile crushisms. Structured around a syllabus for a Great Works of Literature class, Blue's wickedly funny yet poignant tale reveals how the imagination finds meaning in the most bewildering times, the ways people of all ages strive for connection, and how the darkest of secrets can set us free.

©2007 Marisha Pessl (P)2008 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd.
Amateur Sleuths Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Suspense Fiction Mystery Detective Exciting
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

After Life cover art
Boy Parts cover art
The Orphan Master's Son cover art
The Precious One cover art
Here We Lie cover art
Slaughterhouse-Five cover art
Among Others cover art
The Animators cover art
Wicked cover art
Blue cover art
WWW: Wake cover art
Wonder Boys cover art
Elsewhere cover art
Super Powereds: Year One [Dramatized Adaptation] cover art

Critic reviews

"Made me stay up all night reading. I loved this book." (Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler's Wife)
"This is undoubtedly one of the most impressive debut novels I have ever read...It is, perhaps, Pessl's level of precision, coupled, of course, with her ability to create a plot that stops you doing anything apart from read it, that makes her such an exciting writer." ( Independent on Sunday)

What listeners say about Special Topics in Calamity Physics

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    12
  • 4 Stars
    7
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    13
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    11
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Done before but done well

I bought this one after enjoying her second book (which is better) and I was not disappointed. The writing is witty and though most of the story is not particularly original I liked how the plot developed. The references to other books although initially entertaining over time wear thin and some anecdotes that do not move the story forward should have been edited. The narrator was excellent and the last 15 minutes of the book made me increase my rating from 3 stars. Get this one and her second book too.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!