1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • A timeless, structure-bending classic that explores how actions of individual lives impact the past, present and future—from a postmodern visionary and one of the leading voices in fiction Featuring a new afterword by David Mitchell and a new introduction by Gabrielle Zevin, author of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow One of the New York Times’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century • Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize Cloud Atlas begins in 1850 with Adam Ewing, an American notary voyaging from the Chatham Isles to his home in California. Ewing is befriended by a physician, Dr. Goose, who begins to treat him for a rare species of brain parasite. The novel careens, with dazzling virtuosity, to Belgium in 1931, to the West Coast in the 1970s, to an inglorious present-day England, to a Korean superstate of the near future where neocapitalism has run amok, and, finally, to a postapocalyptic Iron Age Hawaii in the last days of history. But the story doesn’t end even there. The novel boomerangs back through centuries and space, returning by the same route, in reverse, to its starting point. Along the way, David Mitchell reveals how his disparate characters connect, how their fates intertwine, and how their souls drift across time like clouds across the sky. As wild as a video game, as mysterious as a Zen koan, Cloud Atlas is an unforgettable tour de force that, like its incomparable author, has transcended its cult classic status to become a worldwide phenomenon.
David Mitchell
David Mitchell is a British author known for his intricate narratives that blend multiple genres and styles. His most notable works include "Cloud Atlas," a novel that weaves together six interconnected stories spanning different time periods and genres, and "The Bone Clocks," a complex tale of immortality and destiny. Mitchell's literary style is characterized by his ability to seamlessly blend realism and fantasy, creating rich and immersive worlds for his readers. His contributions to literature include challenging traditional storytelling conventions and pushing the boundaries of genre fiction. "Cloud Atlas" is widely considered his most famous work, earning critical acclaim and a devoted following of readers. Mitchell's impact on the literary genre has been profound, inspiring other authors to experiment with structure and genre blending in their own works.