The World of Tomorrow

De: Brendan Mathews

Narrado por: Graham Halstead

One whirlwind week of love, blackmail, and betrayal follows three brothers through teeming prewar New York in this "entertaining . . . outsized . . . big, expressive debut" (Wall Street Journal).

June 1939. Francis Dempsey and his shell-shocked brother, Michael, are on an ocean liner from Ireland bound for their brother Martin's home in New York City, having stolen a small fortune from the IRA. During the week that follows, the lives of these three brothers collide spectacularly with big-band jazz musicians, a talented but fragile heiress, a Jewish street photographer facing a return to Nazi-occupied Prague, a vengeful mob boss, and the ghosts of their own family's revolutionary past.

When Tom Cronin, an erstwhile assassin forced into one last job, tracks the brothers down, their lives begin to fracture. Francis must surrender to blackmail or have his family suffer fatal consequences. Michael, lost and wandering alone, turns to Lilly Bloch, a heartsick artist, to recover his decimated memory. And Martin and his wife, Rosemary, try to salvage their marriage and, ultimately, the lives of the other Dempseys. Meanwhile, with the Depression receding, all of New York is suffused with an electric feeling of hope, caught up in the fervor of the World's Fair and eager for good times after a decade of deprivation.

From the smoky jazz joints of Harlem to the opulent Plaza Hotel, from the garrets of vagabonds and artists in the Bowery to the backroom warrens and shadowy warehouses of mobsters in Hell's Kitchen, Brendan Mathews brings the prewar metropolis to vivid, pulsing life. The sweeping, intricate, and ambitious storytelling throughout this remarkable debut reveals an America that blithely hoped it could avoid another catastrophic war and focus instead on the promise of the World's Fair: a peaceful, prosperous "World of Tomorrow."

One whirlwind week of love, blackmail, and betrayal following three brothers through teeming prewar New York in this "entertaining . . . outsized . . . big, expressive debut" (Wall Street Journal)

"A masterfully crafted novel . . . Comic, violent, and moving in equal measure."-John Irving

"As rich and raucous as the city it celebrates."-O., The Oprah Magazine

"Admirably fearless . . . Mathews has talent in buckets."-New York Times Book Review

Reseñas de la Crítica

Advance praise for The World of Tomorrow:
"Entertaining . . . outsized . . . The World of Tomorrow views its teeming cast of characters as though from the observation deck of one of the city skyscrapers that seem to 'burst from the pages of a comic book.' . . . Reveling in bold twists and fantastic coincidences, Mathews's big, expressive debut inhabits a world that's neither of the past nor the future but wholly of the imagination."—Sam Sacks, Wall Street Journal

"This Doctorow-esque debut novel shimmers with the swing and swank of 1939 New York . . . Mathews's urban epic is as rich and raucous as the city it celebrates."—O., The Oprah Magazine

"Mathews has a big, rambunctious talent . . . He is a wonderful scene-setter, whether he's describing the streets of Manhattan in the wee hours or conjuring the glories of then brand-new Rockefeller Center . . . The gusto of his prose and vividness of his characters keeps the novel gyrating with zany energy . . . An exuberant debut novel."—Michael Upchurch, Chicago Tribune

"The World of Tomorrow is that rarest of historical novels, a book that catches a moment in a jar, holds it aloft, and displays it for what it really is: Somebody else's day before tomorrow, the instant right before the future comes . . . Mathews's entire novel takes place over the course of one week in June of that year, culminating at the World's Fair itself, in a fast-paced finale worthy of a Scorcese long-take. And I love this about the book. I love the bright-eyed joy of it. The meticulous attention to detail that actually serves the plot . . . And I like that Mathews made this big book so intimate . . . One of the strengths of his story is the way it sprawls and loops. It finds odd little corners of time and place and character to get into and, in those corners, it finds both a balancing seriousness and a wideness of vision."—Jason Sheehan, NPR

"A promising writer . . . Mathews is an able prose stylist, and breathing life into so many diverse characters is no mean feat . . . The possibility of dramatic transformation amid historical ferment is at the heart of The World of Tomorrow, a fat novel stuffed with well-drawn characters grappling with different versions of themselves . . . Mathews has a flair for bringing street scenes to life, and his hopscotching narrative-from a Harlem jazz joint to a Bowery art studio to a Fifth Avenue palace-makes for an enjoyable tour of a vanished city . . . An affable debut novel."—John Freeman Gill, Washington Post

Good strong story

Epic, engaging, great listen. Expansive multi-plotted engaging historical fiction. Five more words required required.

Fantastic debut

A combination of great writing, memorable characters, well captured historical context and an intricately woven plot made this thoroughly enjoyable.

Well written but in need of serious editing

A truely engaging story never seems too long, and although there is much to admire in The World of Tomorrow, it was seriously over-long. The narrative jumped between multiple characters, and even though the story takes place over the course of a week, there were numerous flashbacks to fill in the backstories of the cast of characters. I admired the book rather than enjoyed it. I will give the author a big star, though, for a great ending.

I obviously really liked this book...

as you can see by my giving it so many stars.

Usually books that entail so many characters as this one can be hard to follow, but the author did a good job of bringing disparate characters together toward the climactic conclusion.

That being said, (not really a spoiler alert)... I was a little disappointed with the fate of certain characters. (I am not saying which ones so I am not spoiling your enjoyment of this good book). It was hardly a "bad ending"; i just didn't get exactly what I wanted or expected-too bad for me.

Wonderful listening experience!

A terrific story from beginning to end. Beautifully written and presented. A treat for the ears.