About this title: Hunt's novel is a wondrous imagining of an unlikely friendship between theeccentric inventor Nikola Tesla and a young chambermaid in the Hotel New Yorker, where Tesla lived out his last days.
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Description: Fair. Purchasing this item supports Pierce County libraries. Thriftbooks and PCL have partnered to help raise additional funds for the library system. Ex-Library book-will contain library markings. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Purchasing this item supports Pierce County libraries. Thriftbooks and PCL have partnered to help raise additional funds for the library system. Ex-Library book-will contain library markings. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Acceptable. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Date Published: 2008-02-07
ISBN-13:9780618801121ISBN:061880112X
Description: Like New. May be shiny, in some instances dust jackets are not included, no missing pages, no damage to binding, may have a remainder mark. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Date Published: 2008-02-07
ISBN-13:9780618801121ISBN:061880112X
Description: Very good. Very minimal damage to the cover (no holes or tears, only minimal scuff marks), in some instances dust jackets are not included, no missing pages, minimal to no highlighting/under. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Date Published: 2008-02-07
ISBN-13:9780618801121ISBN:061880112X
Description: Good. Plastic cover is little worn and dirty. Library stickers and stamps. Number written on first page and little dirty. We ship 6 days a week. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Mariner Books
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780547085777ISBN:054708577X
Description: Good. 285-X Books rated "Good" may have some notes, underlining, or highlighting. These books also may contain the previous owner's name, stamp, sticker, or gift inscription, or may be library discards. read more
Description: Good. Purchasing this item supports Pierce County libraries. Thriftbooks and PCL have partnered to help raise additional funds for the library system. Ex-Library book-will contain library markings. Book has appearance of light use with no easily noticeable wear. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Purchasing this book supports the King County Library System Foundation. Thriftbooks and KCLSF have partnered to help raise additional funds for the library system. Ex-Library book-will contain library markings. Book has appearance of light use with no easily noticeable wear. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Like New. Book in almost Brand New condition. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Date Published: 2008-02-07
ISBN-13:9780618801121ISBN:061880112X
Description: Very Good. *Binding is tight and square. Text is clean, bright and unmarked. DJ is VG. We recommend EXPEDITED MAIL for even faster delivery! read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Mariner Books
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780547085777ISBN:054708577X
Description: New. No dust jacket as issued. Brand new and unmarked; fresh from the publisher. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 257 p. Audience: General/trade. Brand new and unmarked; fresh from the publisher. read more
Description: New. A Brand New Copy. Never Read. Buy with confidence from an Independent Bookstore where the owners, a husband and wife team, have over 30 years of combined bookselling experience. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780099524007ISBN:0099524007
Description: Good. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Harvill Secker
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781846551925ISBN:1846551927
Description: Good. Cover type-This book is a paperback copy. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! read more
"I really enjoyed reading and learning from this book. All of the characters were spell-binding, except perhaps the main character... whos name I've already forgot.:\ Oh wait Lou! Yes, now I remeber. The only thing that stuck with me about her was that she had black hair and was a maid at the New Yorker.
I found most parts fascinating, excpecialy the parts about Nikola Tesla and the parts that included Arthur. I smiled everytime Nikola was refered to as "Niko" and I loved how he called his friend Mark Twain by his real name (Sam) until the very end.
There were some loose ends that never got tied up though. Did Azor ever really travel anywhere? If so (I believe he did), the book looses a bit of its charm by having something totaly unrealistic and unexplained (it is afterall about science...)
The ending (I won't spoil it lol) was surprising and sad, but I believe it was expected.
Somethings were left just a little too mysterious for me, I would've liked to know more about Arthur and Lou. But looking past the mysteries that this book left me with, I'd say it left me with a lot more knowledge. It's very interesting how Samantha Hunt novelizes the facts about Nikola Tesla, she makes his hugely strange quirks rather endearing. The books use of pigeons was brilliant, always there at the right time, always meaning the right thing.
I feel a bit let down by the lack of a proper ending... but still, this book is worth a read!"
"I like to read historical fiction because it's a way to learn about a person or an event or an era without getting bogged down in the "my sources are better than yours" pettiness that seems to come out often in non-fiction.
This book delivered with good insights into an inventor who was more interested in discovery than execution. It is a terrific exploration of one of the most prolific and acute scientific minds of our time. Tesla is credited with the discovery -- but, importantly, not the widespread proliferation of many innovations we take for granted: Alternating current and wireless radio to name only two. There is also an appropriately negative description of Edison. But the contrast between the pure scientist Tesla and the pragmatist Edison could have been stronger.
Overall, this was an enjoyable, thought-provoking, and well written book. The descriptions of a post-war New York in transition and the enormous New Yorker Hotel add good nuance and detail."
"I thoroughly enjoyed this book and have found myself thinking about it in the weeks since I finished it. Before I read the book, I read someplace that this would be a hit with fans of The Time Traveler's Wife, and I can see why that connection was made. While this novel doesn't have lovers shuttling back and forth in time, the element of time travel is one of the secondary plotlines, but thankfully not in a geeky annoying science fiction way, thankfully.
The story revolves around Louisa, a young woman who works at a hotel in NY in the middle of the 20th century, and encounters Nikola Tesla, the under-appreciated inventor who ended his days in the hotel. All of the biographical details about Tesla in the book are true, something I was stunned by given the bizarre, coincidental or just unbelievable elements of his life's story. I never knew that a scientist could provide such rich material for a character that is layered and troubled, haunted by his failures both professional and personal. The woman's personal life provides the fictional element of the story, and it's a lovely bittersweet tale of love, family, loss and hope. The relationship that develops between Louisa and Tesla against the magical backdrop of NY is wonderfully evoked, and has me hoping that this will be made into a movie, something I rarely wish upon books I really enjoy."
"loved the fancy of this book! agreed with a lot of the comments on GR but really, enjoyed the remake of tesla and how a young woman's life could be spun around in circles so much so that she stops being able to parse who is who. two points:
- the mystery of arthur is never properly explained. it sounds like he really is just who he is, but then there are sections where he knows too much too early, or azor has somehow actually traveled to the future enough to stir the pot on their relationship - but their relationship begins coincidentally?
- the pigeons. what was their significance, other than a device to connect louisa to tesla? i like thinking that they just were around, a presence in all the madness."
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