Paris in the Twentieth Century: The Lost Novel - Softcover

Jules Verne; Richard Howard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 034542039X ISBN 13: 9780345420398

Publisher: Del Rey, 1997

Synopsis

In 1863 Jules Verne, famed author of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Journey to the Center of the Earth, wrote a novel that his literary agent deemed too far fetched to be published. More than one hundred years later, his great-grandson found the handwritten, never-before published manuscript in a safe. That manuscript was Paris in the Twentieth Century, and astonishingly prophetic view into the future by one of the most renowned science fiction writers of our time. . . .

Praise for Paris in the Twentieth Century

“Jules Verne was the Michael Crichton of the 19th century.”—The New York Times

“For anyone interested in the history of speculative fiction . . . this book is an absolute necessity.”—Ray Bradbury

“Verne's Paris is a bustling, overcrowded metropolis teeming with starving homeless and ‘vehicles that passed on paved roads and moved without horses.’ Years before they would be invented, Verne has imagined elevators and faxmachines. It was a vision Verne's editor flatly rejected. Contemporary readers know better.”—People

“An excellent extrapolation, founded on 19th-century technical novelties, of a future culture.”—The Washington Post Book World

“Verne published nearly seventy books, many of them now considered classics. But this little jewel catches him just reaching stride as a writer of science fiction, a genre that he, of course, helped put on the literary map.”—The Denver Post

About this title

From the Publisher:

Like I can turn down a novel by Jules Verne.

What can you say about the man who wrote 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH? It's thanks to Verne that the genre of science fiction even exists! His works led to those of Arthur C. Clarke, Larry Niven, Michael Crichton--an entire century worth of masters of adventure. His genius led generations of talented people to write, compose music, make movies, and most important of all, read.

Not that we were likely to be publishing his next novel.

But lo! and behold, there was a next novel. And it was science fiction! Woo-hoo!

In PARIS IN THE 20TH CENTURY, Verne hypothesized some pretty bizarre stuff: automobiles, fax machines, elevators, even mega-corporations. Too weird to publish, so he was rejected--just waiting for Lester and Judy Lynn Del Rey to get their imprint off the ground. And I was lucky enough to be around when the time was right.
                        --Steve Saffel, Senior Editor        

From the Back Cover:

"Jules Verne was the Michael Crichton of the 19th century."
--The New York Times

"For anyone interested in the history of speculative fiction . . . this book is an absolute necessity."
--Ray Bradbury

"Verne's Paris is a bustling, overcrowded metropolis teeming with starving homeless and 'vehicles that passed on paved roads and moved without horses.' Years before they would be invented, Verne has imagined elevators and fax machines. It was a vision Verne's editor flatly rejected. Contemporary readers know better."
--People

About this edition

• Publisher: Del Rey
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 034542039X
• ISBN 13: 9780345420398
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 222