Publisher, Recorded Books (April 2005)

Jonathan Safran Foer's best-selling debut novel, Everything Is Illuminated, wowed critics on its way to winning several literary prizes, including Book of the Year honors from the Los Angeles Times. It has been published in 24 countries and will soon be a major motion picture. Foer's talent continues to shine in this sometimes hilarious and always heartfelt follow-up.

Nine-year-old Oskar Schell is a precocious Francophile who idolizes Stephen Hawking and plays the tambourine extremely well. He's also a boy struggling to come to terms with his father's death in the World Trade Center attacks. As he searches New York City for the lock that fits a mysterious key his father left behind, Oskar discovers much more than he could have imagined.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a masterfully imagined novel from an author Time hails as "a certified wunderkind."

About the Author: Jonathan Safran Foer's debut novel, Everything Is Illuminated, won several prizes and appeared on numerous 2002 best books lists. He is the editor of the anthology A Convergence of Birds: Original Fiction and Poetry Inspired by the Work of Joseph Cornell, a Boston Globe best-seller.

His stories have been published in the Paris Review and Conjunctions. Foer grew up in Washington, D.C., attended Princeton University, and currently resides in Brooklyn, NY.

About the Performers: Jeff Woodman won the S.F. Critics' Circle Award for his performance in An Ideal Husband. He has numerous Off-Broadway credits, and his television work includes Sex and the City, Law and Order, and Cosby.

Barbara Caruso, a graduate of London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, has been a featured player in the Royal Shakespeare Company and has played starring roles on Broadway and across the country.

Richard Ferrone worked with the Tony Award-winning Trinity Repertory and was a member of Tony Randall's National Actor's Theatre. He has appeared on and Off-Broadway, and in several TV series.