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How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe: A Novel Audiobook
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(3.33) - 12 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
From the National Book Award–winning author of Interior Chinatown comes a razor-sharp, hilarious, and touching story of a son searching for his father … through quantum space-time.
Every day in Minor Universe 31 people get into time machines and try to change the past. That’s where Charles Yu, time travel technician, steps in. He helps save people from themselves. Literally. When he’s not taking client calls, Yu visits his mother and searches for his father, who invented time travel and then vanished. The key to locating his father may be found in a book. It’s called How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, and somewhere inside it is information that will help him. It may even save his life.
“In this debut novel, Charles Yu continues his ambitious exploration of the fantastic with a whimsical yet sincere tribute to old-school science fiction and quantum physics. … A fascinating, philosophical and disorienting thriller about life and the context that gives it meaning.”—Kirkus, starred review
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"Not really hard sci-fi (is meta sci-fi a genre?), but interesting concepts and great character development, even though the main character isn't particularly likable. Everything about this book is self-referential. "
— Phoebe (4 out of 5 stars)
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“A brainy reverie of sexbots, rayguns, time travel, and Buddhist zombie mothers…Packed with deft emotional insight.”
— Economist (London) -
“Glittering layers of gorgeous and playful meta-science-fiction…Yu is a superhero of rendering human consciousness and emotion in the language of engineering and science…A complex, brainy, genre-hopping joyride of a story, far more than the sum of its component parts, and smart and tragic enough to engage all regions of the brain and body.”
— New York Times Book Review -
“A funny, funny book, and it’s a good thing, too; because at its heart it’s a book about loneliness, regret, and the all-too-human desire to change the past.”
— Tor.com -
“Compulsively rereadable…Hilarious.”
— Los Angeles Times -
“There’s some really beautiful descriptions of time travel worthy of a Murray Gold–scored Doctor speech.”
— BookRiot -
“A whimsical yet sincere tribute to old-school science fiction and quantum physics…A fascinating, philosophical and disorienting thriller about life and the context that gives it meaning.”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Awards
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A BookRiot Pick of Books to Read If You Miss Doctor Who
How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe Listener Reviews
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" A missing-father novel, done in a pleasantly fresh way. Yu uses his slyly deconstructed time-travel narrative as an armature for a slowly boiling account of growing up with a complicated father. "
— Tom, 6/17/2011 -
" Infinite time loops are sexy. Oh Lord, I think my geek level just rose about 200%. "
— Sumayyah, 6/17/2011 -
" Wonderful,refreshing and thought provoking read,most definitely note the influence of Douglas Adams <br/>Highly recommend<br/> "
— Sandy, 6/11/2011 -
" I thought I was going to enjoy this book. But then I didn't enjoy it. Some books are like that. "
— Heather, 6/8/2011 -
" Made it onto the NYT's best books of the year list, but not my favorite read. While the concept is interesting, the narrative did not get compelling until the last third of the book. Even science fictional novels need to have some kind of plot momentum. "
— Julia, 6/7/2011
About Charles Yu
Charles Yu is the author of How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, which was named one of the best books of the year by Time magazine. He received the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 Award for his story collection Third Class Superhero and was a finalist for the PEN Center USA Literary Award. His work has been published in the New York Times, Playboy, and Slate, among other periodicals.
About James Yaegashi
James Yaegashi has appeared in numerous Broadway and off-Broadway productions, film, and television roles. He was also a popular radio disc jockey in Japan. He is a four-time winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award for audiobook narration, and his voice-over credits include a featured role in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.