Richard Powers - Böcker

The Overstory, winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, is a sweeping, impassioned work of activism and resistance that is also a stunning evocation of—and paean to—the natural world. From the roots to the crown and back to the seeds, Richard Powers’s twelfth novel unfolds in concentric rings of interlocking fables that range from antebellum New York to the late twentieth-century Timber Wars of the Pacific Northwest and beyond. There is a world alongside ours—vast, slow, interconnected, resourceful, magnificently inventive, and almost invisible to us. This is the story of a handful of people who learn how to see that world and who are drawn up into its unfolding catastrophe.

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERLONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZETHE POWERFUL NEW NOVEL FROM THE PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING AND BOOKER-SHORTLISTED AUTHOR OF THE OVERSTORY AND BEWILDERMENT‘Ascends to the plane of true, indisputable greatness' OBSERVER'An ambitious, rapturous epic' GUARDIAN‘Magisterial, moving and thought-provoking … a beautiful love letter to our oceans’ NEW SCIENTISTRafi and Todd are two polar opposites at an elite high school. As adults, Rafi gets lost in literature, while Todd’s enters the world of AI. Elsewhere, Evie sinks to the bottom of a swimming pool strapped to one of the world’s first aqualungs; Ina grows up in naval bases across the Pacific with art as her only home.All of these people meet on the history-scarred island of Makatea in French Polynesia, marked for humanity’s next great adventure.Set in the world’s largest ocean, Playground interweaves profound themes of technology and the environment, and a deep exploration of our shared humanity.'Is there anything Richard Powers cannot write? The world here is complete, seductive, and promising. The writing feels like the ocean. Vast, mysterious, deep and live' PERCIVAL EVERETT'Brilliant, captivating and important' ANDREA WULF'An extraordinarily immersive journey through lives linked in mysterious ways - gripping, alarming and uplifting' EMMA DONOGHUEPraise for Richard Powers:'Powers has extraordinary gifts as a writer' GUARDIAN'Impressively precise in its scientific conjectures, Bewilderment is no less rich or wise in its emotionality' OBSERVER'He composes some of the most beautiful sentences I've ever read. I'm in awe of his talent' OPRAH WINFREY'It is impossible to deny the importance of Powers's message' SUNDAY TIMES'Refreshing, original and moving' EVENING STANDARD

An enthralling story about desire, new love and the mysteries of science from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The OverstoryStuart Ressler, a brilliant biologist, sets out in 1957 to crack the genetic code. His efforts are sidetracked by other, more intractable codes – social, moral, musical, spiritual – and he falls in love with a member of his research team.Years later, another young man and woman team up to investigate a different mystery – why did the eminently promising Ressler suddenly disappear from the world of science?Strand by strand, these two love stories twist about each other in a double helix of desire.‘A love story of charm and substance, brimming over with ideas, yet anchored in emotional truth’ Sunday Telegraph

THE MILLION-COPY GLOBAL BESTSELLER AND WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION'Radical and exciting' Jessie Burton'Breathtaking' Barbara Kingsolver'It changed how I thought about the Earth and our place in it' Barack Obama'Really, just one of the best novels, period' Ann PatchettA wondrous, exhilarating novel about nine strangers brought together by an unfolding natural catastrophe. An artist inherits a hundred years of photographic portraits, all of the same doomed American chestnut. A hard-partying undergraduate in the late 1980s electrocutes herself, dies, and is sent back into life by creatures of air and light. A hearing- and speech-impaired scientist discovers that trees are communicating with one another. An Air Force crewmember in the Vietnam War is shot out of the sky, then saved by falling into a banyan.This is the story of these and five other strangers, each summoned in different ways by the natural world, who are brought together in a last stand to save it from catastrophe.

'If you have children or will have children, if you know children or can remember being a child, dare to read Operation Wandering Soul ... it is bedtime reading for the future' USA TODAY'Powers' prose soars like the most magnificent of choirs' WASHINGTON POST'The most intellectually stimulating novelist at work in the English language today' DAILY TELEGRAPHIn the paediatrics ward of a public hospital, a group of sick children gather, their lives brightened only by the power of imagination. The surrogate parents of this group - Kraft, a tired, overworked surgical resident, and Espera, a dedicated therapist - are charged with prolonging their lives using storytelling and make-believe alone.Using the boundless reach of imagination, Operation Wandering Soul is a novel that celebrates the wonder of childhood. Both social indictment and emotional account of intimate needs, it asks how we might keep alive a little longer the enduring magic of childhood dreams.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERSHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2022FROM THE PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR‘Extraordinary’ New York Times‘Remarkable’ Observer‘Heartfelt’ GuardianTheo Byrne is a promising young scientist 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. But after a violent outburst from Robin at school, the strength of their close bond will be tested to its limits...What can a father do, when those around him refuse to understand his rare and troubled child? And how can he reveal to his boy the truth about our beautiful, bewildered world?

In Orfeo, composer Peter Els opens the door one evening to find the police on his doorstep. His home microbiology lab—the latest experiment in his lifelong attempt to find music in surprising patterns—has aroused the suspicions of Homeland Security. Panicked by the raid, Els turns fugitive and hatches a plan to transform this disastrous collision with the security state into an unforgettable work of art that will reawaken its audience to the sounds all around it.

An Air Force loadmaster in the Vietnam War is shot out of the sky, then saved by falling into a banyan. An artist inherits a hundred years of photographic portraits, all of the same doomed American chestnut. A hard-partying undergraduate in the late 1980s electrocutes herself, dies, and is sent back into life by creatures of air and light. A hearing- and speech-impaired scientist discovers that trees are communicating with one another. These four, and five other strangers—each summoned in different ways by trees—are brought together in a last and violent stand to save the continent’s few remaining acres of virgin forest.In his twelfth novel, National Book Award winner Richard Powers delivers a sweeping, impassioned novel of activism and resistance that is also a stunning evocation of—and paean to—the natural world. From the roots to the crown and back to the seeds, The Overstory unfolds in concentric rings of interlocking fables that range from antebellum New York to the late twentieth-century Timber Wars of the Pacific Northwest and beyond, exploring the essential conflict on this planet: the one taking place between humans and nonhumans. There is a world alongside ours—vast, slow, interconnected, resourceful, magnificently inventive, and almost invisible to us. This is the story of a handful of people who learn how to see that world and who are drawn up into its unfolding catastrophe.The Overstory is a book for all readers who despair of humanity’s self-imposed separation from the rest of creation and who hope for the transformative, regenerating possibility of a homecoming. If the trees of this earth could speak, what would they tell us? "Listen. There’s something you need to hear."

The astrobiologist Theo Byrne searches for life throughout the cosmos while single-handedly raising his unusual nine-year-old, Robin, following the death of his wife. Robin is a warm, kind boy who spends hours painting elaborate pictures of endangered animals. He’s also about to be expelled from third grade for smashing his friend in the face. As his son grows more troubled, Theo hopes to keep him off psychoactive drugs. He learns of an experimental neurofeedback treatment to bolster Robin’s emotional control, one that involves training the boy on the recorded patterns of his mother’s brain…With its soaring descriptions of the natural world, its tantalizing vision of life beyond, and its account of a father and son’s ferocious love, Bewilderment marks Richard Powers’s most intimate and moving novel. At its heart lies the question: How can we tell our children the truth about this beautiful, imperiled planet?

Celebrates 40 great exemplars of Nordic residential architecture from the past 120 years, exploring both the groundbreaking modernist homes of the 20th century and more contemporary dream residences. The Nordic home has long held a powerful allure for architects, designers and homeowners around the world. The region’s architects and designers, such as Alvar Aalto, Arne Jacobsen and Jørn Utzon, have played a key role in the development of Nordic modernism, with its unique sense of character and warmth. This collection of forty of the area’s most iconic houses ranges widely across diverse landscapes, from remote mountain residences to dramatic waterside homes and urban icons. Unique homes from Iceland and the Faroe Islands sit alongside standout examples from across Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland. With specially commissioned photography throughout, this major survey showcases the very best of the region’s innovative architects past and present, sitting within landscapes and locations that are among the most beautiful, and extreme, anywhere on Earth.

A handy resource for all lovers and enthusiasts of house design, featuring over 100 of the world’s most significant residential buildings. The Iconic House features over 100 of the most important and influential houses designed and built since 1900. International in scope and wide-ranging in style, the houses share a remarkable sensitivity to site and context, an appreciation of local materials and building traditions, and a careful understanding of clients’ needs. Each, however, has a unique approach that makes it groundbreaking and radical for its time. Concise, informative texts and fresh, vibrant illustrations, including specially commissioned photographs, floor plans and drawings, offer detailed documentation, while architect biographies, a bibliography, a gazetteer and list of houses by type provide further information. Whether Arts and Crafts or Art Nouveau, Modernist or Minimalist, High-Tech or new vernacular, these unforgettable buildings from around the world will inspire and delight students and professionals, design aficionados and anyone who dreams of building a house of their own.

The Iconic Interior features over 100 of the most spectacular interiors from around the world, spanning the entire 20th century to the present day. Including spaces created by leading artists and fashion designers, architects, interior and set designers, this essential collection brings together diverse design talents from Piero Fornasetti to Alvar Aalto, Coco Chanel, Marc Newson and Matthew Williamson. The selection spans every style and design movement, from minimalism and Art Nouveau to Gesamtkunstwerk creations that defy definition, offering a rich source of ideas and inspiration for students, designers and homeowners alike.

Craig Ellwood, the Cary Grant of architecture, was one of the most visible faces of California mid-century modernism. He was known as much for his exquisitely designed, minimalist structures as he was for his exuberant lifestyle. This book celebrates and explores the glamour of Ellwood s work, life, myth, and career. Through photographs, primarily of the iconic houses he designed in Southern California during the 1950s and 60s, we see a life of refined decadence, expressed through gorgeous architecture, fast cars, beautiful women, Hollywood style, palm trees, swimming pools, and minimalist design all in the context of the Southern California postwar building boom. This volume will appeal to design junkies, architecture buffs, students of modernism, and anyone interested in problem-solving and elegant solutions.

Mexico has long been a wellspring of inspiration for designers, with its rich architectural heritage shaping both national and international discourse. Visionary architects such as Agustin Hernandez Navarro, Luis Barragan, Ricardo Legorreta, and Javier Senosiain have left an indelible mark on modern architecture, their groundbreaking work continuing to influence contemporary design. In this lavishly illustrated volume, Christiansen explores Mexico s architectural diversity, presenting homes that embody a profound sense of place through exceptional design. From organic dwellings that merge seamlessly with rural landscapes to bold urban structures that challenge conventions of form and space, to sculptural seaside sanctuaries that rise like temples from the sand, each project offers a unique perspective on the country s evolving design language. Profiling both established masters and emerging talents, this book highlights the fearless innovation and artistry that define Mexican architecture today. These visionaries push the boundaries of convention, transforming spaces into works of art that transcend mere functionality. Through their bold experimentation and creative mastery, they shape the future of design while paying homage to Mexico s rich traditions, skilled artisans, and cultural heritage. An essential resource for design aficionados, this book opens the doors to architectural marvels that capture the essence of a vibrant and ever-evolving country an inspiring testament to Mexico s enduring influence on the world of architecture.

From the Palmer Raids to the McCarthy era, to ABSCAM and Waco, the FBI has been enmeshed in controversy since its creation. It is also deeply woven into the fabric of our national identity and popular culture. The subject of countless movies, books, and television shows, we are fascinated by its mystique and drama. But how did the bureau that began with a modest 34 investigators in 1908 become the powerful force that it is today, employing over 12,000 agents across the country?