A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor: A Novel
Jul 2020 · The Carls Book 2 · Penguin
4.8star
67 reviewsreport
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464
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About this ebook
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Who has the right to change the world forever?
How will we live online?
How do we find comfort in an increasingly isolated world?
The Carls disappeared the same way they appeared, in an instant. While the robots were on Earth, they caused confusion and destruction with only their presence. Part of their maelstrom was the sudden viral fame and untimely death of April May: a young woman who stumbled into Carl’s path, giving them their name, becoming their advocate, and putting herself in the middle of an avalanche of conspiracy theories.
Months later, April’s friends are trying to find their footing in a post-Carl world. Andy has picked up April’s mantle of fame, speaking at conferences and online; Maya, ravaged by grief, begins to follow a string of mysteries that she is convinced will lead her to April; and Miranda is contemplating defying her friends’ advice and pursuing a new scientific operation…one that might have repercussions beyond anyone’s comprehension. Just as it is starting to seem like the gang may never learn the real story behind the events that changed their lives forever, a series of clues arrive—mysterious books that seem to predict the future and control the actions of their readers—all of which seems to suggest that April could be very much alive.
In the midst of the search for the truth and the search for April is a growing force, something that wants to capture our consciousness and even control our reality. A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor is the bold and brilliant follow-up to An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. It is a fast-paced adventure that is also a biting social commentary, asking hard, urgent questions about the way we live, our freedoms, our future, and how we handle the unknown.
Who has the right to change the world forever?
How will we live online?
How do we find comfort in an increasingly isolated world?
The Carls disappeared the same way they appeared, in an instant. While the robots were on Earth, they caused confusion and destruction with only their presence. Part of their maelstrom was the sudden viral fame and untimely death of April May: a young woman who stumbled into Carl’s path, giving them their name, becoming their advocate, and putting herself in the middle of an avalanche of conspiracy theories.
Months later, April’s friends are trying to find their footing in a post-Carl world. Andy has picked up April’s mantle of fame, speaking at conferences and online; Maya, ravaged by grief, begins to follow a string of mysteries that she is convinced will lead her to April; and Miranda is contemplating defying her friends’ advice and pursuing a new scientific operation…one that might have repercussions beyond anyone’s comprehension. Just as it is starting to seem like the gang may never learn the real story behind the events that changed their lives forever, a series of clues arrive—mysterious books that seem to predict the future and control the actions of their readers—all of which seems to suggest that April could be very much alive.
In the midst of the search for the truth and the search for April is a growing force, something that wants to capture our consciousness and even control our reality. A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor is the bold and brilliant follow-up to An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. It is a fast-paced adventure that is also a biting social commentary, asking hard, urgent questions about the way we live, our freedoms, our future, and how we handle the unknown.
Ratings and reviews
4.8
67 reviews
Martin de Groot (ToDaisy)
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October 26, 2024
My personal going-ons might have definitely influenced my time with this book but I found it less impactful and enjoyable than the first book. It was however nice to see this cast again.
Wanderly
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July 26, 2020
'A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor', along with its prequel 'An Absolutely Remarkable Thing' - is today's 'Brave New World', '1984', and 'Player Piano'. Hank Green explores our relationship to branding, technology, economics, social media, and culture change while asking the reader to think about our place in this changing world. The narrative is deceptive, in that it can be described as an 'easy read', while the topics are wholly impactful in our current culture. Although Hank Green is technically a new writer, his years of content creation assured his ability to enter the world of novel writing fully fledged and ready to fly. This story is well worth the time and price of reading - even more, it's worth discussing, it's worth contemplating the themes and implications in our media driven world of haves and have-nots. Read them. Get back to me. We'll talk.
3 people found this review helpful
Arawup
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July 9, 2020
A beautiful book. In itself a comforting voice just like Carl and just as humanly complex. Hopeful, yet it doesn't deny the complexity and differing perspective of our human story.
8 people found this review helpful
About the author
Hank Green is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. He's also the CEO of Complexly, a production company that creates educational content, including Crash Course and SciShow, prompting The Washington Post to name him "one of America's most popular science teachers." Complexly's videos have been viewed more than two billion times on YouTube. Hank and his brother, John, are also raising money to dramatically and systematically improve maternal health care in Sierra Leone, where, if trends continue, one in seventeen women will die in childbirth. You can join them at PIH.org/hankandjohn.
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