''The Invention of Everything Else'' is a 2008 novel written by American author

Samantha Hunt Samantha Hunt (born May 15, 1971) is an American novelist, essayist and short-story writer. She is the author of ''The Dark Dark'' and ''The Unwritten Book'', published by Farrar, Straus, Giroux; ''The Seas'', published by MacAdam/Cage and Ti ...

. The novel presents a fictionalized account of the last days in the life of

Nikola Tesla Nikola Tesla (;"Tesla"
. ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; 10 July 1856 – 7 ...

, the Serbian-American electrical engineer. Other fictionalized versions of historical characters include

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February11, 1847October18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, ...

(a rival),

George Westinghouse George Westinghouse Jr. (October 6, 1846 – March 12, 1914) was a prolific American inventor, engineer, and entrepreneurial industrialist based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is best known for his creation of the railway air brake and for bei ...

, and

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...

. Tesla is the novel's protagonist along with a chambermaid named Louisa with whom he shares some common interests including science and pigeons. Much of the book takes place in the

New Yorker Hotel The New Yorker Hotel is a mixed-use hotel building at 481 Eighth Avenue in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1930, the New Yorker Hotel was designed by Sugarman and Berger in the Art Deco style and is ...

. The book also includes elements of science fiction, namely time travel. The author, Samantha Hunt, received a

National Book Foundation The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established with the goal "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America." Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: ...

award for authors under 35, for her previous novel, ''The Seas''. ''The Invention of Everything Else'' was shortlisted for an award from ''

Believer Believer(s) or The Believer(s) may refer to: Religion * Believer, a person who holds a particular belief ** Believer, a person who holds a particular religious belief *** Believers, Christians with a religious faith in the divine Christ *** Bel ...

'' magazine and shortlisted for the

Orange Prize The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–2012), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017) is one of the United Kingdom's ...

.Orange Prize for Fiction
/ref> She won the Bard Fiction Prize for 2010.

References like

External links

Audio recording of Samantha Hunt reading from ''The Invention of Everything Else'' at the Key West Literary Seminar, 2009

Author's website

New Yorker review

San Francisco Chronicle review

Globe and Mail review
2008 American novels Works about Nikola Tesla Novels set in hotels Fiction set in 1942 Fiction set in 1943 Novels set in New York City Biographical novels Cultural depictions of Thomas Edison Cultural depictions of Mark Twain {{2000s-bio-novel-stub