Orfeo

Have you ever wondered what happens when your greatest passion is mistaken for a threat? For aging composer Peter Els, this nightmare becomes reality. Discover how a lifetime dedicated to music and science lands him on a government watchlist, turning him into America's most wanted fugitive. Join Els on his desperate cross-country journey as he revisits the people and places that shaped his controversial art. You'll uncover the haunting connections between musical patterns and genetic codes, exploring how a quest for beauty can be twisted into a perceived act of terror in a post-9/11 world.

Richard Powers is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and MacArthur Fellow celebrated for his profound explorations of science, technology, and art in American life. His lifelong passion for music and his deep interest in biochemistry converged to inspire Orfeo, a novel that follows an avant-garde composer who becomes a fugitive after his home lab is mistaken for a bioterrorism site. Powers masterfully orchestrates a story that questions the intersection of creativity, scientific inquiry, and national security in the modern world.