Astoria
Robert Viscusi
Reading Time
at 250 WPM4h 36m
The average reader, reading at a speed of 250 WPM, would take 4h 36m to read Astoria.
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10
days at 30 min/day
276
total minutes
Astoria
Published
2003
Publisher
Guernica
Pages
276
ISBN-10
1550711008
Description
Astoria is an original and powerful vision of the Great Migration, full of startling angels and unexpected daggers of truth. The narrator is a man deranged by history and grief. For him, the real capital of the world is a place called Astoria, the Italian neighborhood in Queens where his mother was a child in the 1920s. Now it is 1986, two years after her death. He has gone to teach literature at the University of Paris. At the tomb of Napoleon, he discovers she has not left him. For the narrator, she is Napoleon. No matter where he goes, he finds himself still in Astoria, her revolutionary empire. From Paris to New York to Rome, he meets her monuments at every turn. To break her hold on him, he weaves theory after theory, writes one history after another. His struggle reveals her as the will, the incest, and the magic of the Great Migration, its fury, its rage, its unappeasable desire. Astoria is an experiment in what Robert Viscusi calls speculative history. In his first book, Max Beerbohm or The Dandy Dante (1986), Viscusi developed the theory of a history of what might be, rather than what has actually been.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many pages are in Astoria?
This edition of Astoria has approximately 276 pages. Please note, this is an estimate and the exact page count can vary between hardcover, paperback, and e-book versions.
How long does it take to read Astoria?
For most readers, Astoria typically takes between 5h 45m and 3h 50m to complete. This is based on the book's length of approximately 69,000 words and common reading speeds.
Here's a detailed breakdown: • Continuous reading at 250 WPM: approximately 4h 36m of focused reading • Casual reading (30 minutes/day): you could finish in roughly 10 days • Estimated word count: 69,000 words
Your individual reading time will vary based on your personal reading pace, the amount of daily reading time, and your familiarity with the subject matter.
What is the word count of Astoria?
The estimated word count for Astoria is approximately 69,000 words. This figure is calculated using industry-standard methods that consider genre-specific word density patterns, typical formatting and layout characteristics, and standard words-per-page ratios for published books.
This is an approximation — actual word count may vary based on font size, formatting, edition, and the presence of illustrations or charts.
Who is the author of Astoria?
Astoria was written by Robert Viscusi.
When was Astoria published?
The publication date for this specific edition is 2003. The original work may have been published on a different date.