Playground explores that last wild place we have yet to colonise and interweaves profound themes of technology and the environment, and a deep exploration of our shared humanity
With pitch perfect precision, Richard Powers tells the story of a musician journeying into his past as he desperately flees the present.
One evening, 70-year old avant-garde composer Peter Els opens his front door to find the police on his doorstep. His home microbiology lab - the latest experiment in his lifelong attempt to discover musical patterns in DNA strands - has come to the attention of Homeland Security. Panicked by the raid, Els flees and turns fugitive. In response, the government promises a terrified nation that the ‘Bioterrorist Bach’ will be found and brought to trial.
Richard Powers
About the Author
Richard Powers is a multi-award-winning American author. He lives in the Great Smoky MountainsOther nominated books by Richard Powers
Shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2021. An astrobiologist thinks of a creative way to help his rare and troubled son in Richard Powers’ deeply moving and brilliantly original novel.
Richard Powers’ radical and remarkable novel. Nine strangers are each summoned in different ways by the natural world to save it from catastrophe.
