Author(s): Richard Powers

Fiction

Richard Powers is one of America's most important novelists and Generosity is his most exuberantly brilliant book yet, in which he dares to imagine what might happen when science discovers the genes for happiness... When Russell Stone becomes the teacher of a young Algerian woman with a disturbingly luminous presence, he is both entranced and troubled. How can this refugee from terror radiate such bliss? Is it possible to be so open and alive without coming to serious harm? Thassa's joyful personality comes to the attention of the notorious geneticist and advocate for genomic enhancement, Thomas Kurton, whose research has enabled him to announce his discovery of the genetic underpinnings of happiness. Thassa's congenital optimism is severely tested by the growing media circus. Devoured by the public as a living prophecy, her genetic secret will transform both Russell and Kurton, as well as the world at large. Generosity is fast, funny and finally magical. In his most exuberant and exhilaratingly brilliant book yet, Richard Powers asks his readers to consider the big questions facing humankind as it learns of the genetic map underlying every aspect of our existence. Review: "Nothing less than brilliant..."-- John Updike "If Powers were an American writer of the nineteenth century... he'd probably be the Herman Melville of Moby-Dick. His picture is that big."-- Margaret Atwood, New York Review of Books "Richard Powers is the most intellectually stimulating novelist at work in the English language today... Sentence after sentence has the razor-sharp quality of aphorism about the weird wired world we have made" Daily Telegraph "There is no other contemporary American writer quite like Richard Powers... It is rare to find a novel as intellectually and emotionally engaging as this."--Guardian "Vividly rendered...immensely satisfactory and, ultimately, very moving... The redemptive power of the closing stages, and the amount of creative energy released, is awesome."--Independent "Intricately, intelligently and accurately constructed... Formidable"-- John Updike,New Yorker "Much of the tension behind Powers' idea-driven novels stems from the delicate balance between plot and concept, and he wisely adopts a voice that is - sometimes painfully - aware of the occasional strain... Like Stone and Kurton, Powers strays from mere record to attempt an impossible task: to make the world right."--Publishers Weekly (Starred and Boxed Review) "Another remendous accomplishment from a writer who sees his species with brilliant, uncomfortable clarity."-- Booklist (Starred)