 First edition | |
| Author | Richard Powers |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | William Morrow & Company |
Publication date | August 1, 1991 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| ISBN | 0-688-09891-6 |
| OCLC | 22665566 |
| 813/.54 20 | |
| LC Class | PS3566.O92 G65 1991 |
The Gold Bug Variations is a novel by American writer Richard Powers, first released in 1991.
The novel intertwines the discovery of the chemical structure of DNA with the musicality of Johann Sebastian Bach's harpsichord composition the Goldberg Variations . A similar theme is explored by Douglas Hofstadter in his 1979 book Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid , and the title also alludes to Edgar Allan Poe's 1843 short story "The Gold-Bug", which is also incorporated in the plot of the novel. [1]
The plot hinges on two love affairs: the first set in the 1950s, between two scientists intent on discovering the mysteries of DNA; the second in the 1980s, between two lovers who befriend the scientist featured in the novel's flashbacks.
The Gold Bug Variations has received the following awards:
Richard Powers is an American novelist whose works explore the effects of modern science and technology. His novel The Echo Maker won the 2006 National Book Award for Fiction. He has also won many other awards over the course of his career, including a MacArthur Fellowship. As of 2024, Powers has published fourteen novels and has taught at the University of Illinois and Stanford University. He won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Overstory.
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Paula Gosling is a United States-born crime writer. She has lived in the United Kingdom since the 1960s. In 1957, Gosling graduated from Mackenzie High School in Detroit, Michigan. Following her high school career, she obtained her English degree at Wayne State University, graduating in 1962. Gosling began her writing career as a copy-writer. In 1974, she published her first novel, A Running Duck, which won the John Creasey Award for the best first novel of the year. In 1985, Gosling received the Gold Dagger for her subsequent book, Monkey Puzzle. She is a past Chairman of the Crime Writers' Association.
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