Special Topics in Calamity Physics

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Special Topics in Calamity Physics

Author	Marisha Pessl
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Novel
Publisher	Viking Press
Publication date	2006
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
ISBN	ISBN 0-670-03777-X

Special Topics in Calamity Physics (2006) is a novel by American writer Marisha Pessl. It is the author's debut novel. The book was first published in August 2006 by Viking Press, a division of Penguin Group. The book received many positive reviews and was named one of "The 10 Best Books of 2006" by the New York Times. Some negative reviews, including one in The Guardian, accused the text of being overly stylized and Pessl of having "a tin ear for prose."^[1] A movie version is in the works and is rumored to be produced by Scott Rudin.^[2] The film will be directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, the writing-directing team behind Half Nelson.

[edit] Plot

The book is narrated by Blue van Meer, a brilliant young student who travels around the country with her father, a dashing professor of political science. Most of the book's business transpires in Blue's senior year of high school, as she attracts the interest of Hannah Schneider, the film teacher at her school, and is adopted into a clique of students close to Schneider known as the Bluebloods. Midway into the book, Schneider dies, seemingly by suicide. Blue is left to determine why.