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Special Topics in Calamity Physics

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233:. She starts to attend the St. Gallway School and befriends a group of popular, rich, and mysterious teenagers called the Bluebloods. The Bluebloods are also close friends with the film-studies teacher at St. Gallway, Hannah Schneider, a perplexing woman, who intrigues Blue. After Schneider dies, seemingly by suicide, Blue is left to determine why. 205:, you as the author have to know exactly what’s going on at all times. You have to have a really firm handle on what all of the characters are doing, even if your narrator doesn’t understand. That was really the challenge of this book. And it took two or three drafts to figure that out." 27: 200:
that "each draft took about a year. It wasn’t so much that I was revising Blue’s voice or the language, but that I wanted to make sure the mystery worked perfectly, that all the twists and turns really worked. Writing from the standpoint of an
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wife (and Blue's mother), never manages to stay at a high school for more than a semester due to constant moving from city to city. During Blue's senior year, however, they settle in the sleepy town of Stockton,
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While the book is replete with literary and cinematic references, some of these references, like "The Way of the Moth" and "One Night Stand" lead to non-existent sources.
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The book is written in the style of the syllabus for an English Literature course and includes references as footnotes. The chapters are named after literary works like
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Blue van Meer is a film-obsessed, erudite teenager. She is the daughter of itinerant and arrogant academic Gareth van Meer, who, after the death of his amateur
478: 254: 606: 317: 125: 601: 586: 581: 147: 591: 299:, said that Pessl had "a thrilling and fearless voice. A writing career is launched, like it or not, at warp speed." 596: 394: 368: 611: 504: 451: 225: 551: 202: 509: 348: 330: 288: 426: 402: 260: 132: 120: 286:
The book received many positive reviews and was named one of "The 10 Best Books of 2006" by
565: 158: 26: 308:, accused the text of being overly stylized and Pessl of having "a tin ear for prose". 230: 58: 575: 266: 213: 185: 181: 40: 456: 304: 209: 71: 542: 335: 177: 61: 343: 339: 406: 104: 100: 216:, and was a subject of a bidding war that ended in a sale for six figures. 533: 139: 248: 369:"A Conversation with Marisha Pessl, Part II « Kenyon Review Blog" 558: 352:, however, as of 2021 the project has never progressed to filming. 334:
reported that a movie version was in the works, to be produced by
296: 395:"Review: Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl" 133: 159: 427:"Pessl Debuts with 'Special Topics in Calamity Physics'" 157: 145: 131: 119: 111: 95: 87: 77: 67: 54: 46: 36: 208:The book was first published in August 2006 by 196:Pessl wrote three drafts of the book, telling 8: 19: 25: 18: 479:"Previous First Novel Prize Short Lists" 302:Some negative reviews, including one in 548:, reviewed by Ted Gioia (The New Canon) 505:"Miramax, Rudin option rights to novel" 360: 255:A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man 503:Fleming, Michael (January 10, 2007). 450:Dempsey, Peter (September 15, 2006). 7: 346:, the writing-directing team behind 295:Veronique de Turenne, reporting for 318:John Sargent, Sr. First Novel Prize 20:Special Topics in Calamity Physics 563:, an extremely detailed review in 544:Special Topics in Calamity Physics 536:Special Topics in Calamity Physics 173:Special Topics in Calamity Physics 14: 274:Non-existent literary references 1: 393:Dempsey, Peter (2006-09-15). 607:Novels set in North Carolina 538:by Laura Miller in Salon.com 16:2006 novel by Marisha Pessl 628: 553:The 10 Best Books of 2006 24: 602:Novels about friendship 587:American mystery novels 483:The Center for Fiction 452:"Too cool for school" 316:It won the inaugural 226:lepidopteran-catching 582:2006 American novels 165:PS3616.E825 S67 2006 242:Literary references 203:unreliable narrator 21: 592:Viking Press books 560:Precocious Realism 289:The New York Times 597:2006 debut novels 373:The Kenyon Review 312:Awards and honors 282:Critical reaction 261:Wuthering Heights 169: 168: 88:Publication place 619: 546:by Marisha Pessl 522: 521: 519: 517: 500: 494: 493: 491: 489: 475: 469: 468: 466: 464: 447: 441: 440: 438: 437: 423: 417: 416: 414: 413: 390: 384: 383: 381: 380: 365: 338:and directed by 237:Style and format 212:, a division of 161: 135: 79:Publication date 31:First US edition 29: 22: 627: 626: 622: 621: 620: 618: 617: 616: 572: 571: 530: 525: 515: 513: 502: 501: 497: 487: 485: 477: 476: 472: 462: 460: 449: 448: 444: 435: 433: 425: 424: 420: 411: 409: 392: 391: 387: 378: 376: 367: 366: 362: 358: 326: 324:Film adaptation 314: 284: 276: 244: 239: 222: 194: 150: 96:Media type 80: 32: 17: 12: 11: 5: 625: 623: 615: 614: 612:Bildungsromans 609: 604: 599: 594: 589: 584: 574: 573: 570: 569: 556: 549: 540: 529: 528:External links 526: 524: 523: 495: 470: 442: 418: 385: 359: 357: 354: 325: 322: 313: 310: 283: 280: 275: 272: 243: 240: 238: 235: 231:North Carolina 221: 218: 193: 190: 176:(2006) is the 167: 166: 163: 155: 154: 151: 146: 143: 142: 137: 129: 128: 123: 117: 116: 113: 109: 108: 97: 93: 92: 89: 85: 84: 81: 78: 75: 74: 69: 65: 64: 59:Murder mystery 56: 52: 51: 48: 44: 43: 38: 34: 33: 30: 15: 13: 10: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 624: 613: 610: 608: 605: 603: 600: 598: 595: 593: 590: 588: 585: 583: 580: 579: 577: 568: 567: 562: 561: 557: 555: 554: 550: 547: 545: 541: 539: 537: 532: 531: 527: 512: 511: 506: 499: 496: 484: 480: 474: 471: 459: 458: 453: 446: 443: 432: 428: 422: 419: 408: 404: 400: 396: 389: 386: 374: 370: 364: 361: 355: 353: 351: 350: 345: 341: 337: 333: 332: 323: 321: 319: 311: 309: 307: 306: 300: 298: 293: 291: 290: 281: 279: 273: 271: 270: 268: 267:Women in Love 263: 262: 257: 256: 251: 250: 241: 236: 234: 232: 227: 219: 217: 215: 214:Penguin Group 211: 206: 204: 199: 198:Kenyon Review 191: 189: 187: 186:Marisha Pessl 183: 179: 175: 174: 164: 162: 160:LC Class 156: 152: 149: 148:Dewey Decimal 144: 141: 138: 136: 130: 127: 126:0-670-03777-X 124: 122: 118: 114: 110: 106: 102: 98: 94: 91:United States 90: 86: 82: 76: 73: 70: 66: 63: 60: 57: 53: 49: 45: 42: 41:Marisha Pessl 39: 35: 28: 23: 564: 559: 552: 543: 535: 514:. Retrieved 508: 498: 488:November 27, 486:. Retrieved 482: 473: 461:. Retrieved 457:The Guardian 455: 445: 434:. Retrieved 430: 421: 410:. Retrieved 399:The Guardian 398: 388: 377:. Retrieved 375:. 2006-11-05 372: 363: 347: 329: 327: 315: 305:The Guardian 303: 301: 294: 287: 285: 277: 265: 259: 253: 247: 245: 223: 210:Viking Press 207: 197: 195: 172: 171: 170: 72:Viking Press 349:Half Nelson 336:Scott Rudin 178:debut novel 576:Categories 534:Review of 516:August 20, 463:August 20, 436:2020-07-08 412:2020-07-08 379:2020-07-08 356:References 344:Ryan Fleck 340:Anna Boden 192:Background 407:0261-3077 328:In 2007, 320:in 2006. 153:813/.6 22 105:Paperback 68:Publisher 182:American 140:62755674 101:Hardback 47:Language 510:Variety 431:NPR.org 331:Variety 249:Othello 184:writer 99:Print ( 50:English 405:  264:, and 103:& 37:Author 566:Slate 112:Pages 62:novel 55:Genre 518:2013 490:2011 465:2013 403:ISSN 342:and 220:Plot 188:. 134:OCLC 121:ISBN 83:2006 297:NPR 292:. 180:by 115:519 578:: 507:. 481:. 454:. 429:. 401:. 397:. 371:. 258:, 252:, 520:. 492:. 467:. 439:. 415:. 382:. 269:. 107:)

Index


Marisha Pessl
Murder mystery
novel
Viking Press
Hardback
Paperback
ISBN
0-670-03777-X
OCLC
62755674
Dewey Decimal
LC Class
debut novel
American
Marisha Pessl
unreliable narrator
Viking Press
Penguin Group
lepidopteran-catching
North Carolina
Othello
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Wuthering Heights
Women in Love
The New York Times
NPR
The Guardian
John Sargent, Sr. First Novel Prize
Variety

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