The Path of Minor Planets: A Novel - Hardcover

Greer, Andrew Sean

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312275560 ISBN 13: 9780312275563

Publisher: Picador, 2001

Synopsis

In 1965, on a small island in the South Pacific, a group of astronomers gather to witness the passing of a comet, but when a young boy dies during a meteor shower, the lives of the scientists and their loved ones change in subtle yet profound ways. Denise struggles for respect in her professional life, married Eli becomes increasingly attracted to Denise and her quixotic mind, and young Lydia attempts to escape the scientists’ long-casting shadows. Andrew Sean Greer’s remarkable and sweeping first novel is an exploration of chances taken and lost, of love found and broken, and of time’s subtle gravitational pull on the lives of everyday and extraordinary people.

About this title

About the Author:

Andrew Sean Greer is the author of the story collection How It Was For Me. His fiction has appeared in such publications as Esquire, Story, Ploughshares, and The Paris Review. He currently lives in San Francisco, California.

From Booklist:

In 1965, a group of astronomers convene on a small South Pacific island to observe the passing of a comet. More than 30 years later, after the comet has passed in and out of their lives several times, its orbit has deteriorated as if it has been pushed and pulled increasingly off course over the years by the gravitational effects of the countless other pieces of space detritus that it has encountered. As the scientists meet for each passing of the comet and lose touch again afterward, they, too, exert unaccountable influences on each other, some small and hardly noticeable, some much larger. As the characters progress through life, the reader sees the choices they make, wonders how differently things might have turned out, and despairs at the passing of time in this all-too-brief life. The characters are not easily likable, and the novel suffers because of it; but otherwise this is a deep, moving story. The uncommon beauty and honesty of the narrator's voice conveys a startling and profound perspective on life that the reader will not soon forget. Gavin Quinn
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About this edition

• Publisher: Picador
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0312275560
• ISBN 13: 9780312275563
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272