Beyond the Book: Background information when reading The Rule of Four

Beyond the Book

This article relates to The Rule of Four

The Rule of Four received very good reviews when it was published in hardcover last year, and both the hardcover and the newly released paperback appear to be selling well. However, it is interesting to note that of all the books shortlisted for the 2004 BookBrowse Awards (which about 1,000 BookBrowse subscribers voted on earlier this year), The Rule of Four was one of the most widely read but lowest rated of the books. I suspect that this was because many people bought it believing it was going to be similar to the 'Da Vinci Code' (to which it was often compared), but in reality it is a much denser read.

The mysterious coded manuscript that forms the core of the book is The Hypnerotomachia Poliphili - a late 15th century Italian text. You can browse a reproduction of the book at http://mitpress.mit.edu/e-books/HP/

Caldwell and Thomason have been friends since they were eight years old. They're currently at work on their next book.  See them in a short video recording or read an interview at BookBrowse.

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This article relates to The Rule of Four. It first ran in the July 6, 2005 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.

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