Synopses & Reviews
A cursed book. A missing professor. Some nefarious men in gray suits. And a dreamworld called the Troposphere?
Ariel Manto has a fascination with nineteenth-century scientists especially Thomas Lumas and The End of Mr. Y, a book no one alive has read. When she mysteriously uncovers a copy at a used bookstore, Ariel is launched into an adventure of science and faith, consciousness and death, space and time, and everything in between.
Seeking answers, Ariel follows in Mr. Y's footsteps: She swallows a tincture, stares into a black dot, and is transported into the Troposphere a wonderland where she can travel through time and space using the thoughts of others. There she begins to understand all the mysteries surrounding the book, herself, and the universe. Or is it all just a hallucination?
With The End of Mr. Y, Scarlett Thomas brings us another fast-paced mix of popular culture, love, mystery, and irresistible philosophical adventure.
Review
"British author Thomas bites off a bit more than she can chew....Thomas' mildly amusing second offering aspires to be both wonky and hip: her protagonist obsesses over philosophical matters one moment, her lamentable love life the next. Chick lit for nerds." Booklist
Synopsis
A cursed book sends a young woman on a philosophical journey through an alternate dimension in this "stylish and dizzying" novel by the author of PopCo (New York Times).
Graduate student Ariel Manto has a fascination with nineteenth-century scientists -- especially Thomas Lumas, the mysterious author of The End of Mr. Y, a book no one alive has read. When she uncovers a copy at a used bookstore, Ariel goes down an interdimensional rabbit hole of science and faith, consciousness and death, space and time, and everything in between. And to make matters worse, the CIA is onto her.
Following in Mr. Y's footsteps, Ariel swallows a tincture, stares into a black dot, and is transported into the Troposphere: a wonderland where she can travel through time and space using the thoughts of others. There she begins to understand all the mysteries surrounding the book, herself, and the universe. Or is it all just a hallucination?
Synopsis
When Ariel Manto uncovers a copy of
The End of Mr. Y in a second-hand bookstore, she can't believe her eyes. Copies are exceedingly rare, and everyone who has ever read it — including its author, Victorian scientist Thomas Lumas — has disappeared.
Ariel can't resist the promise in the books history and its pages, and so steps into a thrilling adventure of time, space, love, death, and everything in between.
About the Author
SCARLETT THOMAS is the author of PopCo and The End of Mr. Y. She has been nominated for the Orange Prize and named Writer of the Year by Elle UK, one of the twenty best young writers by the Independent, and one of the Telegraphs 20 best writers under 40.