Franklin Flyer [Hardcover]

Nicholas Christopher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 26, 2002

In this shimmering work of fiction, Nicholas Christopher follows the remarkable life of Franklin Flyer–a restless young inventor named after the train on which he was born–through the tumultuous years of the Great Depression, into the Second World War.

Raised by his suffragette aunt, at various times a vagabond and tycoon, Franklin travels across the U.S.A and around the globe, seeking adventure and enlightenment, charting his fate by pursuing the unexpected.

He encounters a glittering cast of characters: among them Rita Hayworth, Josephine Baker, OSS founder “Wild Bill” Donovan, and a host of political zealots, opportunists, and dreamers thrown together in a world on the brink of collapse.

With each new invention–devices that help to revolutionize everything from early television to the technology with which the Allies respond to the Axis powers–Franklin makes his mark. Gaining fame and fortune, he also suffers terrible heartbreak, and through numerous transformations discovers that a man’s own life is truly his most difficult, and rewarding, invention.

A brisk, vivid blend of history and imagination, Franklin Flyer brings to life an American hero as unforgettable as his times.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

If Graham Greene collaborated with the creator of Dick Tracy, the result might read like this quirky, whirlwind tale of ordinary men contending with a worldwide Nazi conspiracy. Christopher (A Trip to the Stars) starts things off in the 1930s, whenFranklin Flyer, a young American inventor and adventurer, signs on as interpreterfor an expedition into the Argentine outback to hunt for deposits of zilium, a miracle metal. Returning to the States, Flyer is involved in numerous scrapes until he ends up working as an illustrator for Otto Zuhl's pulp empire. With the money he makes from one of his inventions, Flyer buys out Zuhl, whose friends one of whom he recognizes from the zilium expedition turn out to be a bunch of Nazi sympathizers.He is smitten by Zuhl's secretary, Persephone Eckert, who is weirdly stocked with esoteric Egyptian lore. However, as the low, dishonest decade nears its end, Flyer has no time for minor mysteries: U.S. intelligence has recruited him to break up the zilium ring. He ends up in Marseilles, where among the crowds of refugees he meets a former lover, Narcissa, and learns he has a daughter. Flyer gets them out of France and is then given the most dangerous assignment of his career. This one should go over well with readers of WWII espionage novels, but Franklin who's like a smart Forrest Gump will appeal to a broader audience, too.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

After the complex but elegant A Trip to the Stars: the story of young inventor Franklin Flyer (named for the train) who meets the likes of Josephine Baker.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: The Dial Press (March 26, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385335458
• ISBN-13: 978-0385335454
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,882,686 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A unique story about an average man, June 20, 2002

By 

Karen Bierman Hirsh (Greenwich, CT) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Franklin Flyer (Hardcover)

Nicholas Christopher has done it again. He has created an intriguing tale, well drawn characters and a wonderful vacation from reality - all of which make for a fabulous, can't put it down kind of read.

This book follows Franklin Flyer, named after the train he was on that crashed when he was a newborn, from 1939 through to the later years in his life. From New York City to Europe and back. Each chapter is a year in Franklin's life and each year brings new and interesting characters and exploits.

The first chapter introduces you to Franklin and quickly sucks you in, giving you some enigmatic thoughts to keep in mind while reading the book. Christopher once again delves into the topics of fate, destiny and luck and manages to wrap up each and every question and plot line that he introduces Franklin and the reader to. While not as spellbinding as his previous novels, Veronica and A Trip to the Stars, Franklin Flyer is certainly worth reading and enjoying.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A weekend with Nicholas Christopher's new Novel, June 10, 2002

By 

Matthew S. Sedota (Myrtle Beach, SC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Franklin Flyer (Hardcover)

The third novel from Nicholas Christopher, Franklin Flyer is another wonderful story of character and powerful ideas. There is such a sense of completeness to the book I'm thinking about starting all over again for a second shot of experience. Everything seems to be interconnected in our lives, everything and everyone matters on some level. Franklin Flyer (the person) has a wonderful sense of wanderlust and powerful ideas of invention. Franklin Flyer (the book) sets a tone of poetry and depth of character within the pre and World War II United States and Europe. There is mystery here. There is romance here, although it is less romantic than emotional. Franklin Flyer sits just this side of mystical, but remains well grounded and ultimately complete. Strongly recommended...

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delirious fun, July 5, 2003

By 

lb136 "lb136" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Franklin Flyer (Paperback)

At one point in the picaresque journey of Nicholas Christopher's Franklin Flyer, he takes a job creating heroes for pulp-fiction magazines of the Depression era. This is perfectly appropriate because Flyer himself eventually becomes such a heroic figure himself, working as a spy for the OSS during World War II, when he's not becoming a tycoon, inventing a paint-mixing machine, engaging in hand-to-hand combat, dabbling in Ancient Egyptian mysticism, or looking for a mysterious woman in a photograph--all the while keeping a firm hold on his yellow fedora (yes, that fedora--the one on the front cover).

Christopher's fast-paced tongue-in-cheek homage to the genre is 180 degrees from his previous novel, the long, languid, "A Trip to the Stars," and maybe it doesn't measure up to that masterpiece.

But it's definitely a fun, provocative read, and it will keep you out of mischief for a couple of days.