Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
A new novel by the author of Everything Is Illuminated introduces Oskar Schell, the nine-year-old son of a man killed in the World Trade Center bombing who searches the city for a lock that fits a black key his father left behind. Jonathan Safran Foer emerged as one of the most original writers of his generation with his best-selling debut novel, Everything Is Illuminated. Now, with humor, tenderness, and awe, he confronts the traumas of our recent history. What he discovers is solace in that most human quality, imagination. Meet Oskar Schell, an inventor, Francophile, tambourine player, Shakespearean actor, jeweler, pacifist, correspondent with Stephen Hawking and Ringo Starr. He is nine years old. And he is on an urgent, secret search through the five boroughs of New York. His mission is to find the lock that fits a mysterious key belonging to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on 9/11. An inspired innocent, Oskar is alternately endearing, exasperating, and hilarious as he careens from Central Park to Coney Island to Harlem on his search. Along the way he is always dreaming up inventions to keep those he loves safe from harm. What about a birdseed shirt to let you fly
Themes & atmosphere
Also by Jonathan Safran Foer
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What you might want to know about Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
After his father dies in the World Trade Center, nine-year-old Oskar Schell finds a mysterious key in a vase in his dad's closet. He spends a year crisscrossing New York with a tambourine, looking for the lock it fits.
Yes. The novel follows nine-year-old Oskar Schell, whose father died in the World Trade Center attacks, as he searches New York for the lock that fits a key his father left behind.
Yes. Stephen Daldry directed a 2011 film adaptation starring Thomas Horn, Tom Hanks, and Sandra Bullock. The film received mixed reviews but was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close was written by Jonathan Safran Foer, published in 2005 by Houghton Mifflin.
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is 364 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close takes most readers 5 to 8 hours to finish.
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a standalone novel by Jonathan Safran Foer, not part of a series.
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.