{"product_id":"the-hampdenshire-wonder-9780262551410","title":"The Hampdenshire Wonder","description":"\u003cb\u003eIn this pioneering science-fictional treatment of superhuman intelligence, a mutant wonder child's insights prove devastating.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eScience fiction luminary Ted Chiang introduces \u003ci\u003eThe Hampdenshire Wonder\u003c\/i\u003e, one of the genre's first treatments of superhuman intelligence. Victor Stott is a large-headed \"supernormal\" mutated in the womb by his parents' desire to have a child born without habits. Known as \"the Wonder,\" Victor surveys humankind's science, philosophy, history, literature, religion--the best that has been thought and said--and dismisses it brutally: \"So elementary . . . inchoate . . . a disjunctive patchwork.\" Rejecting \"the interposing and utterly false concepts of space and time,\" the Wonder claims that life itself is merely \"a disease of the ether.\" Unable to deal with the child's disenchanting insights, his adult interlocutors seek to silence him . . . perhaps permanently.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJ.D. Beresford (1873-1947) was an English dramatist, journalist, and author. His proto-science fiction novels include \u003ci\u003eThe Hampdenshire Wonder\u003c\/i\u003e (1911), \u003ci\u003eA World of Women\u003c\/i\u003e (1913), and \u003ci\u003eThe Riddle of the Tower\u003c\/i\u003e (1944, with Esme Wynne-Tyson); he also wrote in the horror and ghost story genres. A great admirer of H.G. Wells, he wrote the first critical study of Wells in 1915. His daughter, Elisabeth Beresford (1926-2010), was creator of the literary and TV franchise The Wombles.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"MIT Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51185233723666,"sku":"9780262551410","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_ea9ed470-33ba-45f5-b1d8-4ce8cf813ec6.jpg?v=1744583675","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-hampdenshire-wonder-9780262551410","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}