The Afterlife of Emerson Tang: A Novel - Hardcover

Champa, Paula

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0547792786 ISBN 13: 9780547792781

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin, 2013

Synopsis

A driving, panoramic novel of four strangers whose personal struggles with grief become interconnected through their quest to reunite the body and engine of a vintage car.

About this title

Product Description:

Unusual book

Review:

"In these pages, Paula Champa conceives the ideal automobile: a total fusion of power and beauty. Her stunning first novel likewise brings those qualities into perfect balance. The raw emotion of her story and the restrained elegance of her writing together make for a literary tour de force."
--Jonathon Keats, author of "The Book of the Unknown" "A vintage 1954 Beacon car is the axis around which four characters revolve, trying to accept and resolve each of their sorrows in Champa's vividly detailed debut...[an] intellectual yet deeply human examination of what it means to live as well as to die."--"Booklist" "Compelling."--"Publishers Weekly" "Ms. Champa's story is ultimately about time, memory and change, hope and regret. It is wrapped around an old-fashioned mystery. It is also about what a car can mean emotionally to its owner and driver." - "New York Times Wheels Blog"

"Moving, psychologically complex and passionately written....Champa delves into individual souls and emotions in her riveting, layered tale that holds its surprises right up until the end." - "The Providence Joournal"

"In these pages, Paula Champa conceives the ideal automobile: a total fusion of power and beauty. Her stunning first novel likewise brings those qualities into perfect balance. The raw emotion of her story and the restrained elegance of her writing together make for a literary tour de force."
--Jonathon Keats, author of "The Book of the Unknown" "A vintage 1954 Beacon car is the axis around which four characters revolve, trying to accept and resolve each of their sorrows in Champa's vividly detailed debut...[an] intellectual yet deeply human examination of what it means to live as well as to die."--"Booklist" "Compelling."--"Publishers Weekly" "Ms. Champa's story is uimately about time, memory and change, hope and regret. It is wrapped around an old-fashioned mystery. It is also about what a car can mean emotionally to its owner and driver." - "New York Times Wheels Blog"

"Constructed like a mind-bending puzzle. Only at the end are the characters' true relationships to one another and to the coveted Beacon revealed.... Beth Corvid's quest to restore a classic racing car before her employer's death is both a cleverly written, complex mystery and a meditation on mortality." ""--"Shelf Awareness"

"This novel brings together a love of vintage cars with more profound thoughts on life and death... [O]nce it takes hold the book will keep you captivated until the surprising ending... If you enjoy a thoughtful and challenging story with a few "aah-ha" moments when suddenly the author's true intent shines forth, this will be a very satisfying read." -- "TheCalifornian.com "

"The story, at its heart, is a lush character study that examines universal themes of life, death, grief, and change through an automotive lens....a real page-turner." --

"Asks us to re-imagine the future through our knowledge and appreciation of the past.... [and] celebrates the excitement of progress.... I cannot recommend this book enough." - Design Talks "Moving, psychologically complex and passionately written....Champa delves into individual souls and emotions in her riveting, layered tale that holds its surprises right up until the end."-"The Providence Joournal"

"In these pages, Paula Champa conceives the ideal automobile: a total fusion of power and beauty. Her stunning first novel likewise brings those qualities into perfect balance. The raw emotion of her story and the restrained elegance of her writing together make for a literary tour de force." Jonathon Keats, author of "The Book of the Unknown"

"A vintage 1954 Beacon car is the axis around which four characters revolve, trying to accept and resolve each of their sorrows in Champa s vividly detailed debut...[an] intellectual yet deeply human examination of what it means to live as well as to die."--"Booklist "

"Compelling."--"Publishers Weekly"

"Ms. Champa s story is uimately about time, memory and change, hope and regret. It is wrapped around an old-fashioned mystery. It is also about what a car can mean emotionally to its owner and driver." - "New York Times Wheels Blog"

"Constructed like a mind-bending puzzle. Only at the end are the characters' true relationships to one another and to the coveted Beacon revealed.... Beth Corvid's quest to restore a classic racing car before her employer's death is both a cleverly written, complex mystery and a meditation on mortality.""" "Shelf Awareness"

"This novel brings together a love of vintage cars with more profound thoughts on life and death... [O]nce it takes hold the book will keep you captivated until the surprising ending... If you enjoy a thoughtful and challenging story with a few "aah-ha" moments when suddenly the author s true intent shines forth, this will be a very satisfying read." "TheCalifornian.com "

The story, at its heart, is a lush character study that examines universal themes of life, death, grief, and change through an automotive lens .a real page-turner. "Driveshaft"

[T]he book s insights about art and design are stunning at times. Champa suggests that if design inhabits our lives at all, then we have a responsibility to become custodians to our own potential for encountering beauty. "Style Weekly""

About this edition

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0547792786
• ISBN 13: 9780547792781
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 336