In this genre-busting book from award-winning novelist Patrick Somerville characters, stories, and stray thoughts revolve around the “The Machine of Understanding Other People,” the story of a Chicago man who is bequeathed a supernatural helmet that allows him to experience the inner worlds of those around him. Through his lonely lens we peer into the mind of an art student grappling with ennui, ethics and empathy as she comes to terms with her own beliefs in a godless world. We telescope out to the story of idiot extraterrestrials struggling to pilot a complicated spaceship. We follow a retired mercenary as he tries to save his marriage and questions his life abroad. Mind-bending and cracklingly new, Somerville’s broadly appealing and uniquely imaginative constructions probe the outer reaches of sympathy, death, and love in a world seen from the inside out.
The Universe in Miniature in Miniature
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Book Description
In this genre-busting book from award-winning novelist Patrick Somerville characters, stories, and stray thoughts revolve around the “The Machine of Understanding Other People,” the story of a Chicago man who is bequeathed a supernatural helmet that allows him to experience the inner worlds of those around him. Through his lonely lens we peer into the mind of an art student grappling with ennui, ethics and empathy as she comes to terms with her own beliefs in a godless world. We telescope out to the story of idiot extraterrestrials struggling to pilot a complicated spaceship. We follow a retired mercenary as he tries to save his marriage and questions his life abroad. Mind-bending and cracklingly new, Somerville’s broadly appealing and uniquely imaginative constructions probe the outer reaches of sympathy, death, and love in a world seen from the inside out.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In "The Machine of Understanding Other People," the novella that concludes this marvelous set of loosely connected stories, the main character is bequeathed a helmet that enables him entry into the minds of others. Perhaps Somerville (The Cradle) had access to such a device as he crafted his wide-ranging yet wonderfully authentic narrators. Several stories offer intimate access into seemingly real life—a teenager nurses a crush on a teacher as her parents separate, a man recalls a friendly relationship with long-ago proprietors of his corner store—but Somerville's originality shines most when palpably human characters navigate mind-bending scenarios. Students at the School of Surreal Thought and Design are consumed by their vaguely artistic projects but have no instructors, classes, or campus; a new couple faces the aftermath of the end of Earth's orbit yet continue their mundane squabbles ("I was mad and she said, ÇÿThe world ended,' and I said, ÇÿThat's not the point.'"). These densely layered tales invite multiple readings, but even a glance uncovers profound human connection beneath Somerville's often whimsical surface. (Dec.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review
After the restraint of his well-received first novel, The Cradle (2009), Somerville returns to the short story and unleashes the full force of his mischievous imagination. In this inventive and robust collection loosely anchored to the Midwest town of Grayson, and the mysterious School of Surreal Thought and Design, straight-ahead stories that take new slants on familiar themes—family dysfunction, a high-school student’s crush on a teacher—are yoked to bold tales that deliver psychological realism to the outskirts of speculative and science fiction. There’s a hilarious vignette about a catastrophically inept spaceship admiral and a terrifying story about how people behave when the earth stops spinning. The spooky title story portrays a trio of rogue students embroiled in disturbing projects, while “The Machine of Understanding Other People” is a comic yet wrenching adventure story about a strange inheritance and a dangerous dream of preventing “the destruction of the world.” Attuned to the apocalyptic, Somerville, like Jim Shepard and Joe Meno, creates ensnaring plots involving characters in stories of melancholy and absurdity, failure and out-of-the-box heroics. — Booklist
The Universe in Miniature in Miniature is that rare thing, a formally inventive and profound book of ideas that also manages to stir the emotions. —KGB Book Review
Somerville has vast talent for invention and a flair for writing in a variety of voices, whether his character is a young female, a middle-aged male, or an alien. —The Boston Globe
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More About the Author
Patrick Somerville is the author of two novels - This Bright River and The Cradle - and two books of short stories - Trouble and The Universe in Miniature in Miniature. He lives with his wife and son in Chicago, and he teaches creative writing in the MFA programs at Warren Wilson and Northwestern University.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By G. Nomad
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Looking for a collection of stories that never bores? That always retains its flavor and texture? In his new collection of short stories Patrick Somerville has, with scattered precision, invented a whole new genre. The stories are intertwined in an Escheresque way that allow you to discover them again and again, backwards and forwards, sideways and roundabout. If you are a fan of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Alice Through the Looking Glass, if you enjoy science fiction and love stories, and if you like a little apocalyptic darkness mixed in with your post-millennial philosophy you will fall in love with these stories. If you want to know the answer to: what should you do with a billion dollars? Then read this book.
Using his characteristic dry humor, keen observations, and quick prose Patrick Somerville keeps us interested to the bitter end. An end, it turns out, that isn't all that bitter after all, an end that is really just a beginning.
Using his characteristic dry humor, keen observations, and quick prose Patrick Somerville keeps us interested to the bitter end. An end, it turns out, that isn't all that bitter after all, an end that is really just a beginning.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Zachary Cole
Format:Paperback
This is Patrick Somerville's most ambitious book by a mile. The characters and situations here are so delightfully varied. In these stories we encounter a group of college students with bizarre self-designated assignments. A somewhat washed up sci-fi writer and his balding friend. A man in the middle of a nervous breakdown. This book stands in stark contrast with other collections I've read recently, where it can feel like the same character is being used in ever story, re-named again and again.
I was also impressed by how comfortably Somerville shifted tone and genre, which came as something as a surprise considering that his earlier books were traditionally literature (with a few shots of oddness here and there). "No Sun", for example, is a grizzly, stripped down tale of survival in the vein of Justin Cronin's "The Passage". The next story, Varra in the Woods, is a straight-up horror story with parental overtones, while "The Wildlife Biologist" is a very honest, naturalistic and probing look at high school lust and middle-age failures.
Any fan of genre-bending, compassionate characters and general goofiness should give this book a shot.
I was also impressed by how comfortably Somerville shifted tone and genre, which came as something as a surprise considering that his earlier books were traditionally literature (with a few shots of oddness here and there). "No Sun", for example, is a grizzly, stripped down tale of survival in the vein of Justin Cronin's "The Passage". The next story, Varra in the Woods, is a straight-up horror story with parental overtones, while "The Wildlife Biologist" is a very honest, naturalistic and probing look at high school lust and middle-age failures.
Any fan of genre-bending, compassionate characters and general goofiness should give this book a shot.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By 2bigkitty
Format:Paperback
This book is simply amazing! Not only are the stories truly inventive and play with form and the language in ways that are remiscent of David Foster Wallace or Rick Moody, they are also emotionally true and moving. As an avid fan of the old scifi short story form I found much to love in the pieces that paid homage to that form. But the work as a whole comes together with an emotional payoff that is mature and rings true. The way the book is presented is simply fun and endearing but look beyond the cover and you'll find even more surprises.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Some good pieces
After reading Patrick Sommerville's earlier collection "Trouble" (which I adored), I purchased this collection. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Elliot
5.0 out of 5 stars
READ THIS BOOK!
I can't believe how good this book is. It's the best I've read in years.
Immediately after finishing I wanted to start reading it all over again from the beginning. Read more
Immediately after finishing I wanted to start reading it all over again from the beginning. Read more
Published on May 4, 2011 by lucky
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful followup to the Cradle
After being seduced and entertained by Somerville's thoughtful storytelling in the Cradle, I found 'The Universe in Miniature in Miniature' to be a worthy followup. Read more
Published on March 12, 2011 by T. Madl
5.0 out of 5 stars
As an avid short story reader, I highly recommend this great...
The Universe in Miniature in Miniature is a fantastic collection of short stories. It presents humorous stories, science fiction stories, serious stories and stories worth reading... Read more
Published on February 17, 2011 by S. Abramson
