Eine kurze Geschichte der Zukunft

by Stephen Clarke

What if teleportation was really possible? Englishman Richie Fisher is about to find out ...Richie and his wife Clara have won a weekend in New York in a newspaper competition. While Clara is off blowing their spending money, Richie wanders aimlessly, chewing on a veggie-burger, ending up in a gift-shop where he finds himself standing in front of an instant transporter machine. It looks nothing like the open-plan teleporter on Captain Kirk's Starship Enterprise; in fact, it seems more like a glorified microwave oven. Richie places his burger inside, hits the return key on the linked-up computer - and the burger disappears. But if he can teleport a half-eaten veggie-burger, what else could you do with the machine?For criminals, the possibilities are endless. Who could catch you if you beamed drugs into nostrils a hundred miles away? And how much would illegal immigrants pay to be teleported into the rich host country of their choice? Richie buys a teleporter and takes it back to England, where the chaos begins ...

Genres: Humor

Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Stephen Clarke is the bestselling author of seven books of fiction and nonfiction that satirize the peculiarities of French culture. In 2004, he self-published A Year in the Merde, a comic novel skewering contemporary French society. The novel was an instant success and has led to numerous follow-ups, including Dial M for Merde (2008), 1,000 Years of Annoying the French (2010), and Paris Revealed (2011). After working as a journalist for a French press group for ten years, Paris-based Clarke now has a regular spot on French cable TV, poking fun at French culture.

Reviews

[Isabelle Solal · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm sorry to do this because I like Stephen Clarke and '1000 yrs of annoying the French' was a big, fat, enjoyable book, but this one was such a bore I couldn't get past the first quarter.

[Alastair Carthew]

Like Jonas Johnas, Stephen Clarke captures the funny bone from the first page. A different type of humour based around a plot involving a veggie-burger and a time machine. Star Trek figures prominently. The main protagonist, Richie, is a likeable soul compared to his naughty brother. But together they wield their way through a maze of unlikely characters. Well worth a read for the sheer enjoyment of the Aussie humour.

[Dimiter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bizarre & strange, even liked it towards the end. In my opinion the other books by the author are much better. Still, if you really wonder about teleportation, Britain and stuff then read it ;)

[Mantvydas Juozapavicius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Linksma, nuotaikinga istorija. Vaikinas rašo ne prasčiau už Dan Brown'ą :)

[Paul Allen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a first for me.....a third of the way through and I aborted it. Having read and enjoyed greatly the 'Merde' series featuring Paul West, along with a couple other of author Stephen Clarke's anti-French gems I stumbled across this book and looked forward to much of the same. Wrong. It turns out that Clarke wrote this book before all the 'Merde' stuff but didn't get it published as he didn't think it was good enough. He subsequently did......but I think his initial analysis was right! It started ok, but then seemed to aimlessly drift around until I just got bored with it and gave up.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really under-rated book by a great author.
It asks the simple question, what would humanity do with a device like the Transporter from Star Trek?
As a nerd, I appreciated loads of the little Star Trek in-jokes, such as the tech-guys using Klingon as a way to send secure emails.

[Anji · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some really interesting ideas (has obviously done a little scientific research) an extremely witty and lighthearted novel from Mr Clarke. Not to be taken seriously,enjoyable tosh really. Loved it :-)

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a really interesting idea and really brushed up against the idea of the Bootstrap paradox, which I wish was explored further by the book (though I'm not sure if that idea had been around when this book was written). The writing style felt a little more juvenile than I would have preferred but it helped make this a very easy, casual read. Some of the plot felt a little unexplained and some of the details seemed to be missing. Definitely an interesting read but could have done with better and more sophisticated execution.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can do silly, I love silly. This had a promising premise, but the execution was just "stoopid". Thankfully Clarke's books have gotten better over time. OK, I have to admit I am not a fan of Star Trek and didn't get the jokes. I hope they were funny.

[Nonethousand Oberrhein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beam me up before you Go-Go
What would happen if a science-fiction element, like teleportation would pop up in the 80s everyday life? The answer is in this book: a life of full of fun, action and references to Star Trek. Probably not Stephen Clarke best genre (you feel the author much more at ease in the Merde series than in “humorous science-fiction”), but a guarantee of many good moments.

[Franck Emsallem · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pas forcément le meilleur livre de Stephen Clarke. Cependant on retrouve avec plaisir son style moderne et direct. Peut-être aurait-il dû se contenter d'écrire une simple nouvelle. Son histoire rocambolesque et futuriste aurait gagné en légèreté. Ceci dit, pour qui s'intéresse au sujet de la téléportation, le livre présente une vision intéressante de notre avenir proche.

[Chase · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light and fun airport bookstore read.

[Jan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as laugh-out-loud funny as Clarke's series about Paul West, I would call this book 'ok' and hence only 2 stars.