Generosity

BY THE AUTHOR OF THE BOOKER PRIZE-SHORTLISTED BEWILDERMENT AND THE OVERSTORY

It all begins when a young Algerian woman, Thassa, arrives in Russell Stone's writing class. Her stories reveal a horrific past, but her presence sends spirits soaring. This glimpse of pure happiness in the most improbable of guises leaves Russell feeling as troubled as it does entranced. And he isn't alone: Thassa has caught the eye of Dr Kurton, a scientist in search of the 'happiness gene'. He sees in her the key to the breakthrough that will make his name and change history. But can the quality that makes her so valuable survive the ruthless glare of media attention?

Funny, fast and enchanting, Generosity celebrates both science and the imagination. In his most exuberant book yet, Richard Powers asks us to consider the big questions facing humankind as we begin to rewrite our own existence.

'Smart, tender and wrenchingly anxious about the approaching era... Generosity is a bracingly intelligent fable about the choices that face us.' Sunday Telegraph



Richard Powers is the author of twelve novels, including

Orfeo (which was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize),

The Overstory (which was shortlisted for the 2018 Man Booker Prize and won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize) and

Bewilderment (shortlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize). He is the recipient of a MacArthur grant and the National Book Award, and has been a four-time NBCC finalist. He lives in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains.



Compulsive... Powers [is] a modern Renaissance man, as at home in the language of science as in the laboratories of literature... A meditation on the human condition.



Smart, tender and wrenchingly anxious about the approaching era...

Generosity is

a bracingly intelligent fable about the choices that face us.



Generositythrongs with vivid personalities...

Compelling



Brilliantly crafted... [

Generosity] should confirm Powers's status as one of our finest novelists of ideas



Powers is one of the best writers working now.



Powers... is one of our most scientifically literate novelists, with a gift for exploring complex science with cool clarity... He can nail emotional complexities with precision, while using his characters to explore how emerging technologies might shape our lives...

Beautifully expressed



Provocative...

fascinating...

dazzling