The Twenty-One Balloons

Author:
William Pene Du Bois
Content:
The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene Du Bois
Illustrator:
William Pene Du Bois
Publication:
1947 by Viking Press Inc
Genre:
Adventure, Fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fiction
Pages:
180
Current state:
This book has been evaluated and information added. It has been read and any content considerations have been added.
Book Guide
This is the story of the most incredibly fabulous voyage around the world in the history of travel.
Professor William Waterman Sherman left San Francisco on August 15th, 1883, in a balloon, with the intention of flying across the Pacific Ocean. He was picked up three weeks later in the Atlantic Ocean clinging to the wreckage of a platform which had been flown through the air by twenty balloons. His only stop between San Francisco and the Atlantic Ocean was a brief sojourn on the island Krakatoa, which blew up just after he left it in what is considered to be the most violent eruption of all time.
Telling of life on Krakatoa, and filled with the best of balloon inventions, more than half this book is based on scientific truths. The rest is absolute nonsense. The author has made no attempt whatsoever to separate the two, feeling certain, after close association with Professor William Waterman Sherman, that this voyage was completely authentic, word for word, no matter how fantastic it may prove to the reader.
From the dust jacket
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Content Guide
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Reviews
The Twenty-One Balloons
Fanciful adventures of Professor Sherman, who wanted to retire for a year's vacation in a balloon. He broke the 80 Days...
Twenty One Balloons
Reviewed by Sara Masarik
The first 45 pages of this 180 page book are a complete puzzle to the reader. We, like the “public” in the book, are waiting for some kind of explanation. We sense a good story in the making, but we are all but lost on what it might be. Our patience is rewarded.
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