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Permit me a little jubilation

Just occasionally you get a book review that you want to shout to the world about. I've just had one that's got me all excited - the only slight oddity being it's for a book that doesn't come out until August.

The book in question is Before the Big Bang, of which you will no doubt hear more as August comes upon us. And the review is in Kirkus Reviews. (You'll see it in the 'Non-fiction' section.)

As I understand it, the reason these reviews are published so early is so that bookshops, libraries and the like can get a heads-up. I can only hope someone notices this one. Also, apparently, Kirkus are known for being quite fierce in their reviewing, so getting a starred review like this one is something of a coup.

Kirkus is a pay site, so you can't read the review there. Just to give a taste, here's some highlights:

Excellent popular history of how humans understand the universe...
British science writer Clegg (Upgrade Me: Our Amazing Journey to Human 2.0, 2008, etc.) excels in recounting the struggle over our universe’s origin, which most—but not all—agree lies in a vast primeval expansion known as the Big Bang... Clegg follows the footsteps of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, Steven Hawking’s A Brief History of Time and Timothy Ferris’s Coming of Age in the Milky Way. He shares his predecessors’ enthusiasm, eloquence and ability to explain complex ideas but provides a bonus by covering startling developments of the past decade...

Forgive me if I now go and do a small but meaningful dance in the garden.
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Comments

  1. John Quirk14 May 2009 at 09:21

    Nice one, Brian. You are forgiven. Just watch where you're putting your feet in the garden...

    Thanks for link to Kirkus - not come across them before.

    ReplyDelete
  2. cromercrox14 May 2009 at 09:23

    Well done, Brian. I must say, a good review can keep me buoyed up for weeks. This could be a reflection of the sad ordinariness of my life, or that I get very few good reviews.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Brian Clegg14 May 2009 at 09:33

    John - Kirkus are apparently very influential in the US.

    Mr Crox - neither, I'm sure. It's just thrilling to have an afirmation from someone who isn't a friend/relative/financially involved that what you write isn't utter rubbish after all.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sue Guiney14 May 2009 at 11:48

    I'm dancing for you too. And I can't wait to get the book. This one's right up my proverbial alley!

    ReplyDelete

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