Percival's Planet

PERCIVAL'S PLANET is a creaky, gentle, old-fashioned literary escapade--a winding, amusing, contemplative historical novel. Like the work of E.L. Doctorow, this novel paints a portrait of an era--pre- and post-Depression--by focusing on a single event: the discovery of the planet Pluto by Clyde Tombaugh, a DIY astronomer. There are plenty of eccentric characters--including one who believes she's growing a horn out of her head. There's no tension, suspense, or real drama. This is one big literary soufflÄ of language, ideas, and emotions. Narrator William Dufris manages to navigate his way through the 17 hours of this novel with unflagging enthusiasm and energy. The result is a thoughtful window on history told in a warm and witty narrative style. R.W.S. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

Starred review from April 19, 2010
Byers (Long for This World
) offers a gloriously expansive view of Depression-era America, from the easy extravagance of the Boston Brahmins to hardscrabble rural life. At its core, this is the story of Clyde Tombaugh, an unassuming Kansas farm kid who achieves international fame for his discovery of Pluto. In addition to Clyde, there is the Harvard crowd that precedes him at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona: Alan Barber, a man of modest background who aspires to the effortless grace of his wealthy colleague, Dick Morrow, and has a crush on Dick's scholarly and daring girlfriend, Florence. Byers connects Clyde's story with a number of riveting and eventually interlinking subplots, among them an archeological dig run by the wealthy Felix DuPrie, who has turned his back on the family business to try his hand at unearthing dinosaur bones, and the touching tale of Edward Howe, a former professional boxer who pines after his gorgeous and troubled secretary, whose delusions are portrayed with an amazing sensitivity and realism. Between the faultless storytelling and the juicy historical hook, it looks like a hit.