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Bewilderment

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2021.

The brand new novel from the Pulitzer prize-winning, booker prize-shortlisted author of The Overstory.

Picked as one of the Best Books of 2021 in the Sunday Times.

Theo Byrne is a promising young astrobiologist 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. He is also on the verge of being expelled from third grade, for smashing his friend's face with a metal thermos.

What can a father do, when the only solution offered to his rare and troubled boy is to put him on psychoactive drugs? What can he say when his boy comes to him wanting an explanation for a world that is clearly in love with its own destruction? The only thing for it is to take the boy to other planets, while all the while fostering his son's desperate campaign to help save this one.

©2021 Richard Powers (P)2021 Penguin Audio Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Science Fiction Space Exploration Interstellar Emotionally Gripping Heartfelt Thought-Provoking Tear-jerking Solar System
All stars
Most relevant
...and so much more succinct than Overstory. A near future that feels nearer every day.

Poignant and moving

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loved it. very original and likeable characters. unusual storyline. Very good narration by Edoardo Ballerini.

Astonishing and highly original

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I was hooked from beginning to end. This book is written so beautifully and takes you between the real world and the pretend world so effortlessly. One of my top favourite reads in years.

Wonderful

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This book was a reco and I didn’t know what expect. It was moving and sad but also beautiful. I wanted to hear more

Moving, complex and beautiful

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This book has you rooting for the 2 main characters from the get go. You feel their emotions and embark on the journey with them.
the narrator is particularly great and really suits this story.

Really lovely book

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