Bücher von Tom McCarthy

A prize-winning modern classic by the Man Booker shortlisted author Tom McCarthy. It contains a foreword by American scholar McKenzie Wark.

Tief in den Archiven der Zeit- und Bewegungspionierin Lillian Gilbreth liegt ein Geheimnis. Berühmt für die Herstellung solider Lichtspuren, die die Bewegungsmuster von Arbeitern aufzeichnen, hatte Gilbreth, zur Begeisterung von NASA und KGB, die Möglichkeiten von Massenüberwachung und Big Data revolutioniert. Aber hatte sie, wie sie in einem ihrer Briefe andeutet, gegen Ende ihres Lebens tatsächlich auch ein »perfektes« Uhrwerk entdeckt, das » alles verändern« würde? Eine weltumspannende Jagd beginnt, nach dieser einen Box, die in ihrem Nachlass fehlt, und wir folgen einem jungen Bewegungserfassungsforscher namens Mark Phocan durch unsere flirrende Gegenwart, über geopolitische Verwerfungslinien und durch Experimentierzonen und mitten hinein in die Dreharbeiten zum Blockbuster-Film Inkarnation , einer epischen Weltraumtragödie, die endgültig die Geheimnisse menschlicher Erfahrung lüften soll... Der Dreh von Inkarnation ist eine hellsichtige Breitwand-Odyssee durch medizinische Labore, Computergrafikstudios und militärische Forschungseinrichtungen, dunkle Orte, an denen die Grenzen unserer Möglichkeiten - zu unterhalten, zu verstehen, zu heilen, zu töten - ständig getestet und weiter verfeinert werden.

Im Bauch eines Glas- und Stahlbaus verfasst der promovierte Ethnologe U. auf internen Memos eines weltweit tätigen Beratungsunternehmens den »Großen Bericht«: Diese universale Gegenwartsdiagnose soll Trends und Tendenzen aufspüren, denn nur wer die Menschen versteht, kann sie zu Konsumenten machen. Den einen Bericht über diese Welt zu schreiben, in der man sich chronisch zwischen zwei Orten befindet, erweist sich jedoch als knifflig. Zumal die Geschichte sich zu schnell fortschreibt - und wer sie mitschreibt, kann sie nicht gleichzeitig erfassen. Als Forscher und Gegenstand zu verschwimmen und die allumfassende, sinnstiftende Erzählung zu scheitern drohen, eröffnet ein Traum von einer apokalyptischen Stadtlandschaft samt gigantischer Müllverbrennungsanlage neue Perspektiven. Werden die besten Gegenwartsdiagnosen in den mächtigen Finanzzentren erstellt? Tom McCarthy unternimmt nichts Geringeres als den Versuch, unsere Zeit zu vermessen - und bringt dabei eine ihrer tiefenschärfsten Analysen hervor!

Serge Karrefax erblickt im ländlichen England kurz vor der Jahrhundertwende das Licht der Welt - und mit seinem Schicksal verwoben gleichsam das Zeitalter der Technologie und Kommunikation. Als Funker im Ersten Weltkrieg fliegt er über Frankreich, hofft im Londoner Untergrund der Swinging Twenties mithilfe technologischen Fortschritts die Toten anzufunken, und hilft schließlich im gerade unabhängig gewordenen Ägypten ein Funknetz zu errichten - bis sein Leben in einer altägyptischen Grabkammer eine unerwartete Wendung nimmt. Kommunikation, Krieg, Kokain, Krypta: K untersucht gnadenlos, unser Verlangen uns mitzuteilen, während Serge K. die Botschaft hinter allen Botschaften, das Signal hinter allen Signalen sucht. Dieses singulär originelle Buch selbst aber widersteht allen Versuchen, seinen Code zu knacken.

Rich in domestic history and detail, Cat Tales entertains, enlightens, and amuses. These are enduring stories that have passed the test of time and have attracted generations of readers. They are custom-made for the imaginative reader who seeks feline adventure ensconced in his or her favorite reading chair by the fire, curled up with a purring cat.

Great American War Stories is a magnificent collection of gripping accounts of battles great and small throughout history. Capturing all the elements of ancient and powerful tragedy, this book is chock-full of thrilling tales of war-as well as a frightful examination of man's darkest impulses-allowing the reader a gruesome glimpse behind the veil of honor and bravery that history often ascribes to soldiers and their leaders. These are all stories that have endured the test of time and have attracted discerning readers for generations.

»8¿ Millionen ist ein aufsehenerregendes Buch… Ein solcher Roman - philosophisch hochkomplex und doch so einfach geplottet wie ein Comic« - erinnert uns daran, »dass ein Text eben nicht nur ein Text ist, sondern viel mehr. Ein Erlebnis, eine Bewusstseinserhellung, eine Weltsicht«, schrieb Milo Rau in der NZZ angesichts des Erscheinens 2009. Seitdem ist die Bedeutung und Bekanntheit des Romans immer größer geworden und er gilt schon heute als ein Klassiker des 21. Jahrhunderts. Die Romanverfilmung von Omer Fast (Remainder, 2015) wurde ein internationaler Erfolg.Ein junger Mann wird wie aus dem Nichts von einem vom Himmel fallenden Bruchstück getroffen, liegt wochenlang im Koma, bekommt eine Abfindung in Höhe von 8¿ Millionen Pfund, aber sein Leben erscheint ihm nach der Genesung als trügerisch, wie aus zweiter Hand. Beim Anblick eines Risses in einer Badezimmerwand überkommt ihn ein immenses Glücksgefühl: Da war einmal ein identischer Riss, es gab einen Alltag, eine Wohnung, Gerüche, Klänge. Vor allem aber das Gefühl, lebendig zu sein. Er setzt von nun an alles daran, sich diesen Alltag zurückzuholen: als Realität zum An- und Aus­schalten, ­­Vor- und Zurückspulen, in Endlosschleife - um des kurzen Kribbelns der Authentizität willen.

The most ambition and exciting novel yet from the Booker shortlisted author of C and Satin Island.Bodies in motion. Birds, bees and bobsleighs. What is the force that moves the sun and other stars? Where's our fucking airplane? What's inside Box 808, and why does everybody want it? Deep within the archives of time-and-motion pioneer Lillian Gilbreth lies a secret. Gilbreth helped birth the era of mass observation and big data but did she also discover a 'perfect' movement that would 'change everything'? An international hunt begins for the one box missing from her records, and we follow contemporary motion-capture consultant Mark Phocan across geo-political fault lines and experimental zones in his search for it. And all the while, work is underway on the blockbuster film Incarnation, an epic space tragedy...'Dazzling... The Making of Incarnation feels utterly original, utterly new, utterly magical' Neel Mukherjee, author of The Lives of Others'Hugely interesting, energetic, wise and well written' GQ'A rich and fascinating exercise in observation' Independent

The newspaper advertisement for volunteers to accompany Ernest Shackleton on his planned traverse of Antarctica in 1914 was frank in its offering."Men wanted for hazardous journey. Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in event of success."Still, hundreds applied. There were few chances left to be the first to reach the last challenge on Earth.As the 20th Century came of age, explorers had uncovered most of the world's mysteries, sailing to the far corners of the globe, ascending many of its most forbidding peaks, crossing its greatest deserts and penetrating its thickest jungles.Frozen, alien, inhospitable, dangerous, and close to impossible to reach, there were only two tiny dots on the globe that human beings had not yet set foot on-the North and South Poles.The Greatest Polar Exploration Stories Ever Told is a visceral, exciting and stunning collection of twelve stories recounting the bravery, resoluteness, and strength of the men who willingly traversed frozen hells to be the first to reach the North or South Pole. It is a collection that will both inspire and inform-and answer questions about the limits of human endurance.Many men would die during their challenging, frozen journeys, and their deaths were not pleasant. Yet they continued to try again.Here are stories, wrought by the challenging landscape and weather, that made these explorers household names and heroes: Peary, Scott, Amundsen, Shackleton, Franklin, Cherry-Garrard, Scott, Kane, Cook-and others lost to history whose bravery was nonetheless as admirable.Each of these men knew success would bring glory for their countries and financial security and fame and eminent places in history for themselves. Each knew also the odds of success were slim and the chance of dying great.Nations held their collective breaths for news of each expedition and those years later were termed the Heroic Age of Exploration-there were simply no other endeavors that captured the world's attention the various races to the poles. The Greatest Polar Exploration Stories Ever Told recaptures the spirit, drama, and tragedy of a time in history that will never come again.

The Greatest Military Mission Stories Ever Told is a recounting of the heroics of American forces' missions of all kinds.

An arresting collection of murder and mayhem from the front pages of history that captured the whole world's attention.

Developing the Whole Person: A Practitioner's Tale of Counseling, College, and the American Promise explores the achievements and difficulties of postwar counseling psychologists in advancing a whole person development model for American higher education.

From the early years of Western Expansion to the present day, our history is marked by the heroic exploits of the rescuer and the rescued in some of the most daunting geographic, meteorological, and otherwise life-threatening challenges. "First responders" have variously been members of law enforcement to ordinary good samaritans who couldn't look the other way in the face of their brethren in peril. This book collects the most compelling search-and-rescue accounts of the last two hundred years, from William Lewis Manly bringing relief to '49ers lost in Death Valley, to modern-day SAR teams working with the National Park and Forest Services to locate missing hikers or carry out the injured from a wilderness mishap. Of course, many search-and-rescues turn into a body recovery effort, or even a criminal investigation if foul play is suspected. Regardless of the outcome, this book honors those who put others' lives before their own in the face of peril.

In The Greatest Medal of Honor Stories Ever Told, editor Tom McCarthy has pulled together some of the finest writings about heroes awarded the highest military honor that capture readers imaginations. The one thing the heroes in this collection have in commonΓÇöfrom the bloody battlefields of the Civil War through the lonely mountains of AfghanistanΓÇöis uncommon valor. Each of the men in these stories had the courage to calmly stare death in the face and move onΓÇöto do what they had to because that was their duty and the lives of others meant more to them than their own.Chosen from hundreds of accounts of singular devotion to duty, the stories in Medal of Honor stand out for their jaw-dropping tales of bravery. They are the best. No small feat.

Great American Shipwreck Stories is a magnificent collection of gripping accounts of a ship's encounter with a great whale or an overwhelming monsoon or a disastrous passage through the Straits of Magellan, leading to a wreck and a crew's harrowing plight for survival on the open seas or on a desert island. Capturing all the elements of ancient and powerful tragedy, this book is chockful of thrilling tales of survival - as well as a frightful examination of man's darkest impulses - which allow the reader a gruesome glimpse behind the veil of honor and bravery that history often ascribes to such men of the sea. These are all stories that have endured the test of time, and have attracted discerning readers for generations. Includes stories by George Byron Merrick, Owen Chase, Henry Cabot Lodge, Theodore Roosevelt, Riley Brown, J. S. Ogilvie, Horace Holden, and many others.

Discovering electricity. Ending up the richest man in the world. Becoming a candidate for sainthood. Leading the fight for Civil Rights. Getting inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Revolutionizing consumer digital electronics. These accomplishments are at the heart of the stories of seven incredibly diverse individuals who epitomize the American Dream. There is something particularly magical about dreams, or rather the possibility of achieving your dreams in America, the land of opportunity. American Dream Stories: Elements of Success explores the lives and success of Ben Franklin, Andrew Carnegie, Dorothy Day, Malcolm X, Patti Smith, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Steve Jobs. Looking at their lives, offering definitions, and establishing themes, the Naval Academy midshipmen authors of this essay collection examine the nature of the American Dream, success, and what both mean to Americans.

A first-ever compilation of the most courageous and stunning Coast Guard rescue stories.The Coast Guard is one of the nation's five military services, which exist to defend and preserve the United States, and the Coast Guard's rescue personnel are second to none. In The Greatest Coast Guard Rescue Stories Ever Told, the editor has pulled together some of the finest writings about air and sea rescues that capture readers imaginations. It is an unforgettable collection, a new title in the series that includes:*The Greatest Special Ops Stories Ever Told*The Greatest Sniper Stories Ever Told*The Greatest Air Aces Stories Ever Told

An extraordinary collection of fifteen stories that celebrate America's unquenchable thirst for excitement, Great American Adventure Stories contains page-turning accounts of the Galveston Hurricane, the Alaska Gold Rush, a robbery featuring Jesse James, an eyewitness account of the Johnstown flood, and much more. For a taste of the American frontier, Daniel Boone and famed scout Kit Carson depict what they saw and experienced as the country expanded and blossomed in the West. These accounts all have one thing in common: They capture the grit and spirit of people who made America what it is today.

In The Greatest Sniper Stories Ever Told, editor Tom McCarthy has pulled together some of the finest writings about snipers that capture readers imaginations, meticulously culled from books, magazines, movies, and elsewhere. It is an unforgettable collection, and includes stories by Chris Kyle (author of American Sniper), Joe LeBleu, Gina Cavallaro and Matt Larsen, and many others. It includes tales of legendary snipers from the Revolutionary War up through present-day Afghanistan and Iraq.

U - a talented figure pimping his skills to an elite consultancy in contemporary London. His employers advise everyone from big businesses to governments, and, to this end, expect their 'corporate anthropologist' to help decode and manipulate the world around them - all the more so now that a giant, epoch-defining project is in the offing.