Signal & Noise - Hardcover

Griesemer, John

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312300824 ISBN 13: 9780312300821

Publisher: Picador USA, 2003

Synopsis

Signal & Noise is the epic page-turning story of the laying of the trans-Atlantic cable, and the men and women who are caught in its monumental tide. It is also a novel about the collision of worlds seen and unseen: the present and the future; the living and the dead; the real and the imagined. On a wet London morning in 1857, American engineer Chester Ludlow arrives on the muddy banks of the Isle of Dogs to witness the launch of the largest steamship ever built, the Great Eastern. Also amidst the tumultuous throng is Jack Trace, a lonely bachelor and sketch artist hoping to make his name as an illustrator and journalist in the hurly burly of Fleet Street. Other witnesses include a drunken German by the name of Marx; the child who will christen the massive vessel by the wrong name; and Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the ship’s apoplectic and dwarfish architect who will soon die in ignominy. As chief engineer for the Atlantic Cable Company, the charismatic Chester enters the orbit of business and showmanship embodied by J. Beaumol Spude, the bombastic Western beef magnate who will mastermind the funding of the project; Joachim Lindt, creator of the Phantasmagorium, an animated tableaux vivant; and his beautiful wife, the musician Katerina Lindt. Drawn by the demands and adventure of creating the first transoceanic telegraph, Chester leaves behind his fragile wife, Franny, at the family estate of Willing Mind in Maine. Abandoned and still mourning the accidental death of their four-year-old daughter, Franny finds solace in the company of Chester’s troubled brother, Otis, who introduces her to the mysteries of the world of spiritualism just as séancing is becoming all the rage in the jittery times leading up to the Civil War. As Chester achieves renown as the glamorous engineer of the trans-Atlantic project, Franny, desperate to contact her dead child, becomes the preeminent spirit conjuror of a war-torn America.

About this title

Review:

"A novel of epic interconnectiveness...Breathtaking... Griesemer's energetic plotting and prose mirror impressively the vigor of the age." --"The New York Times Book Review"
"A wonderful, ambitious book...How crammed with rich, resonant period details is "Signal & Noise"? Well, you can almost smell the Great Stink of 1850s-era London." --"Esquire"
"A spectacular new novel...Griesemer can stir up a terrifying storm at sea or catch the faint waves of loneliness in a sickroom. He can explain the arcane workings of a galvanometer as well as the mysterious affection between brothers. His story never slackens, drawing us through strands of nineteenth-century technology and timeless romance."--Ron Charles, "The Christian Science Monitor"
"A thoroughly riveting read...big, bold, rambunctious, and very rewarding."--Richard Russo
"Sprawling, meticulously researched...At its simplest, the book is a long, gaslit tale about an engineer's attempt to lay a transatlantic cable from Europe to America. Lurking beneath this conventional plot, though, is a grand meditation on love, lust, and the human urge to reach beyond the tangible world for some greater truth in life." --"The Washington Post Book World"
"Consistently entertaining...storms, war, explosions, sex, science, tragedy, and deep affection. Worth every minute." --"Kirkus Reviews" (starred)
"John Griesemer is a masterful writer. In "Signal & Noise," he has turned the clamor of history into a beautiful symphony." --Joanna Scott

A novel of epic interconnectiveness...Breathtaking... Griesemer's energetic plotting and prose mirror impressively the vigor of the age. "The New York Times Book Review"

A wonderful, ambitious book...How crammed with rich, resonant period details is "Signal & Noise"? Well, you can almost smell the Great Stink of 1850s-era London. "Esquire"

A spectacular new novel...Griesemer can stir up a terrifying storm at sea or catch the faint waves of loneliness in a sickroom. He can explain the arcane workings of a galvanometer as well as the mysterious affection between brothers. His story never slackens, drawing us through strands of nineteenth-century technology and timeless romance. "Ron Charles, The Christian Science Monitor"

A thoroughly riveting read...big, bold, rambunctious, and very rewarding. "Richard Russo"

Sprawling, meticulously researched...At its simplest, the book is a long, gaslit tale about an engineer's attempt to lay a transatlantic cable from Europe to America. Lurking beneath this conventional plot, though, is a grand meditation on love, lust, and the human urge to reach beyond the tangible world for some greater truth in life. "The Washington Post Book World"

Consistently entertaining...storms, war, explosions, sex, science, tragedy, and deep affection. Worth every minute. "Kirkus Reviews (starred)"

John Griesemer is a masterful writer. In "Signal & Noise," he has turned the clamor of history into a beautiful symphony. "Joanna Scott""

"A novel of epic interconnectiveness...Breathtaking... Griesemer's energetic plotting and prose mirror impressively the vigor of the age." --The New York Times Book Review

"A wonderful, ambitious book...How crammed with rich, resonant period details is Signal & Noise? Well, you can almost smell the Great Stink of 1850s-era London." --Esquire

"A spectacular new novel...Griesemer can stir up a terrifying storm at sea or catch the faint waves of loneliness in a sickroom. He can explain the arcane workings of a galvanometer as well as the mysterious affection between brothers. His story never slackens, drawing us through strands of nineteenth-century technology and timeless romance." --Ron Charles, The Christian Science Monitor

"A thoroughly riveting read...big, bold, rambunctious, and very rewarding." --Richard Russo

"Sprawling, meticulously researched...At its simplest, the book is a long, gaslit tale about an engineer's attempt to lay a transatlantic cable from Europe to America. Lurking beneath this conventional plot, though, is a grand meditation on love, lust, and the human urge to reach beyond the tangible world for some greater truth in life." --The Washington Post Book World

"Consistently entertaining...storms, war, explosions, sex, science, tragedy, and deep affection. Worth every minute." --Kirkus Reviews (starred)

"John Griesemer is a masterful writer. In Signal & Noise, he has turned the clamor of history into a beautiful symphony." --Joanna Scott

About the Author:

John Griesemer is also the author of No One Thinks of Greenland, a novel Esquire magazine called “that rarest of first-novel achievements: an across-the-board success.” Griesemer lives with his family in Lyme, New Hampshire.

About this edition

• Publisher: Picador USA
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0312300824
• ISBN 13: 9780312300821
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 640