false 852311 3 NATHAN NELSON IS THE AVERAGE SON OF A GENIUS. His father, a physicist of small renown, has prodded him toward greatness from an early age -- enrolling him in whiz kid summer camps, taking him to the icy tundra of Canada to track a solar eclipse, and teaching him college algebra. But despite Samuel Nelson's efforts, Nathan remains ordinary.<P><P>Then, in the summer of 1987, everything changes. While visiting his small-town grandfather in Michigan, Nathan is involved in a terrible accident. After a brief clinical death -- which he later recalls as a lackluster affair lasting less than the length of a Top 40 pop song -- he falls into a coma. When he awakens, Nathan finds that everyday life is radically different. His perceptions of sight, sound, and memory have been irrevocably changed. The doctors and his parents fear permanent brain damage. But the truth of his condition is more unexpected and leads to a renewed chance for Nathan to find his place in the world.<P><P>Thinking that his son's altered brain is worthy of serious inquiry, Samuel arranges for Nathan to attend the Brook-Mills Institute, a Midwestern research center where savants, prodigies, and neurological misfits are studied and their specialties applied. Immersed in this strange atmosphere -- where an autistic boy can tell you what day Christmas falls on in 3026 but can't tie his shoelaces, where a medical intuitive can diagnose cancer during a long-distance phone call with a patient -- Nathan begins to unravel the mysteries of his new mind. He also tries to make peace with the crushing weight of his father's expectations.<P><P><I>The Beautiful Miscellaneous</i> is an extraordinary follow-up to Dominic Smith's critically acclaimed debut, <I>The Mercury Visions of Louis Daguerre</i>. This dazzling new novel explores the fault lines that can cause a family to drift apart and the unexpected events that can pull them back together.<P><P> 837820 5 6 2007 The Beautiful Miscellaneous: A Novel total:199|5:24|4:67|3:79|2:26|1:3| 199 680 325 39 2 2 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Sep 07 06:03:37 -0700 2007 Wed Jan 09 07:22:18 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Jun 08 14:16:44 -0700 2007 Mon Jun 11 00:57:28 -0700 2007 more...]]> 2 1 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Jul 14 10:41:52 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 24 21:33:56 -0700 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Wed Sep 30 12:39:52 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 30 12:39:52 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Jul 04 23:51:37 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 04 23:52:07 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Sat Feb 16 12:41:33 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 18 04:44:10 -0800 2008
As a story honestly portraying families and how a child s...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Sep 27 22:42:16 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 10 21:41:26 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Sep 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 18 15:59:54 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 06 10:48:55 -0700 2009
The book started out all right, it seemed like a pretty straight forward story about families and expectations. As the story pro...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Mar 30 07:12:13 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 06 05:07:00 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 1 false false Wed Jul 02 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 06 09:28:45 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 06 09:30:15 -0700 2008 4 1 false false Thu Sep 20 16:39:58 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 24 09:58:46 -0700 2007 5 1 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 17 19:40:31 -0700 2007 Sun Sep 23 07:56:15 -0700 2007 one of those books you can't stop thinking about.
an intriguing read.

I can't wait to pick it up and read it again.]]> 3 1 false false Tue Jan 15 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 24 15:09:14 -0800 2007 Mon Dec 24 15:09:27 -0800 2007 4 0 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Sep 02 19:49:55 -0700 2007 Mon Jan 05 00:38:20 -0800 2009
"The Beautiful Miscellaneou...more...]]> 2 1 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 02 11:42:57 -0800 2008 Wed Jul 30 09:40:51 -0700 2008
I laughed out loud at various parts of the book - usually they involved the description of the narrator's exceptionally dorky father - or should I say "soc...more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Oct 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 11 09:29:21 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 16 07:38:36 -0700 2008 The Beautiful Miscellaneous is a coming-of-age story about Nathan Nelson, the teenage son of a physicist. He has modest intellectual abilities and is unable to meet his father's expectations, and has gotten tired of trying.

He has a near-death experience when riding in his grandfather's c...more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon Feb 16 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 10 16:17:44 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 16 16:04:39 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Mar 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 14 19:04:28 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 15 18:21:15 -0700 2009 Bee Season. An intriguing, interesting, uniquely well-told story of a young man's unique life growing up surrounded by unique family and friends. A one-of-a-kind tale.more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 08 12:00:52 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 08 12:01:18 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Apr 03 12:00:59 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 03 12:03:03 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=852311