SPECIAL TOPICS IN CALAMITY PHYSICS

New York: Viking Penguin, 2006. Hardcover. Near Fine/Near Fine. Pessl's first novel, is this 514-page literary thriller featuring Blue van Meer, a smart, serious young woman undergraduate at Harvard, who decides to write her life story as a way to rid herself of the vision of a dead Hannah Schneider, hanging three feet off the ground from the end of an orange extension cord. First edition, first printing (with complete numberline). Bound in cream-colored paper over boards with black backstrip and red lettering on spine, and author's initials impressed on front cover. The front panel of the dustjacket's graphic design includes a variety of somewhat overused graphic icons highlighting the words of the title. The back panel features a definition of calamity physics and a pair of blurbs praising the book. There is a bookplate, partially hidden by the front fold of the dj, attached to the inside front cover, o/w boards and text are clean, complete and unmarked. Binding is tight and square. No significant damage such as tears, creases or bumped corners. Dustjacket shows only very minor edgewear, not price-clipped. The text is peppered with b&w illustrations by the author and the 36 chapters are headed with the titles of works ranging from Agatha Christie to Allen Ginsberg, from Shakespeare to Shaw to Marquis de Sade. The novel became a bestseller as did Pessl's second work, "Nightfilm.