Special Topics in Calamity Physics (2006) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Characters/People edit see section history

• Blue van Meer: Erudite protagonist
• Hannah Schneider: Dynamic teacher who leads the Bluebloods - a clique of students at St. Gallway
• Gareth van Meer: Professor, father of Blue. Magnetic personality.
• Charles Loren: Star of St. Gallway's, gold-haired heartthrob. Member of the Blue Bloods
• Jade Churchill Whitestone: Terrifying beauty. Member of the Blue Bloods
• Nigel Creech: A cipher. Member of the Blue Bloods.
• Milton Black: Southern, sturdy and grim. Member of the Blue Bloods.
• Leulah Maloney: Pearl-skinned, old-fashioned beauty. Member of the Blue Bloods.
• Zach Soderberg: A nice guy. Goes to school with Blue, plays basketball, likes Blue.
• Eva Brewster: Teacher
• George Gracey: One of the Nightwatchmen perhaps...
• Dee: Add a description of this character.
• Catherine Baker
• Mr. Moats
• Larson
• Harper
• Ada Harvey
• Patsy
• Roge
• Stockton
• Natasha
• Havermeyer
• Mr. Archer
• Valerio: A person that the Blue Bloods think may have a place in the mysterious Hannah's past.
• Mr. Fletcher
• Jefferson
• Ms. Simpson
• Wilson
• Norvel
• Arnie Sanderson
• Ms. Gershon
• Mr. Johnson
• Roy Jr.
• Ms. Sturds
• Pierre
• Violet
• Lonny
• Andreo

Quotes edit see section history

• “Someone is not 'nice' when they force a landing and take the liberty of discharging radar signals that bounce off your surface, formulating panoramic images if your landscape and transmitting them ceaselessly through space.”

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• “Yes. He said, ‘I pretended to be somebody I wanted to be until I became that person. Or he became me.’ In the end, a man turns into what he thinks he is, however large or small. It is the reason why certain people are prone to colds and catastrophe. And why others can dance on water.”

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• it—‘Happiness is a hound dog in the sun. We aren’t on Earth to be happy, but to experience incredible things.’”

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• “May your studies continue to the end of your days,” he said. “May you walk a lighted path. May you fight for truth—your truth, not someone else’s—and may you understand, above all things, that you are the most important concept, theory and philosophy I have ever known.”

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• “Whilst man is in one location, he thinks of another. Dancing with one woman, he can’t help but long to see the quiet curve of another’s nude shoulder; to never be satisfied, to never have the mind and body cheerfully stranded in a single location—this is the curse of the human race!”

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• “When one travels abroad, one doesn’t so much discover the hidden Wonders of the World, but the hidden wonders of the individuals with whom one is traveling. They may turn out to afford a stirring view, a rather dull landscape or a terrain so treacherous one finds it’s best to forget the entire affaire and return home.”

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• “Sometimes it takes more courage not to let yourself see. Sometimes knowledge is damaging—not enlightenment but enleadenment. If one recognizes the difference and prepares oneself—it is extraordinarily brave. Because when it comes to certain human miseries, the only eyewitnesses should be the pavement and maybe the trees.”

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• Instead, the mind used a lazy shorthand, smoothed the person over into their most dominating characteristic—their pessimism or insecurity (sometimes really being lazy, turning them into either Nice or Mean)—and one made the mistake of judging them from this basis alone and risked, on a subsequent encounter, being dangerously surprised.

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• “Very few people realize, there’s no point chasing after answers to life’s important questions,” Dad said once in a Bourbon Mood. “They all have fickle, highly whimsical minds of their own. Nevertheless. If you’re patient, if you don’t rush them, when they’re ready, they’ll smash into you. And don’t be surprised if afterwards you’re speechless and there are cartoon tweety birds chirping around your head.”

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• “And thus we are faced with the simple question,” said Dad. “Is man’s destiny determined by the vicissitudes of environment or free will? I argue that it is free will, because what we think, what we dwell upon in our heads, whether it be fears or dreams, has a direct effect upon the physical world. The more you think about your downfall, your ruin, the greater the likelihood that it will occur. And conversely, the more one thinks of victory, the more likely one will achieve it.”

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• (Mendelshon Peet wrote in Loggerheads [1932], “Man’s wobbly little mind isn’t equipped for hauling around the great unknowns.”)

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Setting & Locations edit see section history

• St. Gallway
• United States
• Paris
• Harvard
• England
• Massachusetts
• Mississippi
• Switzerland
• North Carolina
• New Mexico

First Sentence edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• June bugs: Single middle-aged women who are attracted to Professor Gareth van Meer

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

• High School Culture: Describe this theme.
• Coming of Age

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Marisha Pessl (Author)

Other Contributors:

1. Emily Janice Card (Narrator)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PS3616.E825S67 2006
• Dewey: 813.6

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Add a note to help parents select a book for a child.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Mystery & Thrillers › Thrillers › Suspense
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Literary
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Comic
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary

More Books Like This edit see section history