The Little Book

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An irresistible triumph of the imagination more than thirty years in the making, this breathtaking love story spans generations, from fin de siècle Vienna through pivotal moments of the twentieth century. It follows Wheeler Burden, the California-exiled heir of a famous Boston banking family. A philosopher, historian, rock idol, writer, and recluse, Wheeler is a half-Jew and Harvard baseball hero. In 1988, at forty-seven, he finds himself in San Francisco but mysteriously wanders into 1897 Vienna, a time he knows well despite being born decades later. Soon, he acquires appropriate clothes, money, lodging, and befriends a group of young Viennese intellectuals. He gains a mentor in Sigmund Freud, faces a bitter rival, and develops a powerful crush on a luminous young American woman. He even has a passing acquaintance with Mark Twain and uncovers surprising insights about his dashing war-hero father, whom he never knew. Yet, the truth behind Wheeler's time dislocation remains a mystery, requiring months of exploration and a lifetime of memories to unravel. Ultimately, it reveals the eccentric Burden family's profound impact on the course of the coming century. This narrative showcases Selden Edwards as a dazzling, original, and inventive novelist of our time.