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Misspent Youth | 
 enlarge | Author: Peter F. Hamilton
Publisher: Del Rey
Category: Book
List Price: $26.00
Buy New: $12.47
You Save: $13.53 (52%)
New (38) Used (16) from $8.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 234935
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.4
ISBN: 0345461649
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780345461643
ASIN: 0345461649
Publication Date: September 16, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New. 100% money back guarantee. All books shipped from Strand Bookstore, New York City, USA.
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Product Description
Readers have learned to expect the unexpected from Peter F. Hamilton. Now the master of space opera focuses on near-future Earth and one most unusual family. The result is a coming-of-age tale like no other. By turns comic, erotic, and tragic, Misspent Youth is a profound and timely exploration of all that divides and unites fathers and sons, men and women, the young and the old.
2040. After decades of concentrated research and experimentation in the field of genetic engineering, scientists of the European Union believe they have at last conquered humankind’s most pernicious foe: old age. For the first time, technology holds out the promise of not merely slowing the aging process but actually reversing it. The ancient dream of the Fountain of Youth seems at hand.
The first subject for treatment is seventy-eight-year-old philanthropist Jeff Baker. After eighteen months in a rejuvenation tank, Jeff emerges looking like a twenty-year-old. And the change is more than skin deep. From his hair cells down to his DNA, Jeff is twenty–with a breadth of life experience.
But while possessing the wisdom of a septuagenarian at age twenty is one thing, raging testosterone is another, as Jeff discovers when he attempts to pick up his life where he left off. Suddenly his oldest friends seem, well, old. Jeff’s trophy wife looks better than she ever did. His teenage son, Tim, is more like a younger brother. And Tim’s nubile girlfriend is a conquest too tempting to resist.
Jeff’s rejuvenated libido wreaks havoc on the lives of his friends and family, straining his relationship with Tim to the breaking point. It’s as if youth is a drug and Jeff is wasted on it. But if so, it’s an addiction he has no interest in kicking.
As Jeff’s personal life spirals out of control, the European Union undergoes a parallel meltdown, attacked by shadowy separatist groups whose violent actions earn both condemnation and applause. Now, in one terrifying instant, the personal and the political will intersect, and neither Jeff nor Tim–or the Union itself–will ever be the same again.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 OK, but wait for the paperback November 9, 2008
I love near-future but it's difficult to pull off the technical details. This book pulls it off, and with a premise that everyone can relate to. The characters are generally strong and I enjoyed the political backdrop (without being whacked over the head with it).
What drove down the enjoyment for me was that Hamilton seems to insult the reader's intelligence by regularly telegraphing major plot developments well in advance. The two greatest surprises in the book were foreshadowed pretty heavily, and as far as I could tell for no good reason. If I want that sort of thing I'll watch network television.
Lots of sex, so if that's offensive take a pass.
Worth my time, but not worth hardcover $$.
 Bland! October 20, 2008
The main character (Jeff) is poorly realized. I'm not sure what the point is (other than the author does not like the European Union).
 fascinating thriller September 18, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
In the near future former RAF pilot Jeff Baker invents the memory crystal that led to the datasphere, which replaced the Internet. Jeff Baker made his creation available to everyone placing him on a par with Mother Teresa for altruistic adulation.
In 2040, the European Union scientists make an incredible breakthrough in genetics; they developed a new biotechnique that enables them to replace aged genes. Jeff is the chosen one because of what he did with his memory crystal and the theory that his brilliance could solve the home energy crisis. The conversion works as Jeff goes from a septuagenarian to a twentyish person. Only Jeff finds his sex drive supersedes everything and everyone else including his used to be much younger wife and his teenage son.
Discounting some unnecessary English terrorists detracting from the fascinating thriller, MISSPENT YOUTH is an interesting look at the unintended consequences of science finding a Fountain of Youth. The story line focuses on out of control Jeff who finds his former peers ancient and only sex matters. In terms of relationships he succeeds as a born again sex machine, but the only intelligence he brings back from his years of experience is sex; thus narrowing the scope of an intriguing premise.
Harriet Klausner
 disappointing July 12, 2008
The only reason I'm writing a negative review of this book is because I'm a fan of Peter Hamilton's science fiction and I'd prefer that other readers don't pick up this one and judge the rest of his work colored by the experience of having read this one first.
daytime TV inspired sci fi April 26, 2008
Okay the heading isn't entirly accurate but the book does have it's "jerry springer" moments.
I picked this book up in a sale and I'm glad I did so without reading the negative reviews it seems to have gotten. This was the first of peter hamiltons books I read, I am currently reading the reality dysfunction. I can see vast differences, which is good sci fi is a vast genre. this is an intelligent book that raises many questions, would the datasphere be a good thing?? or a momumentally stupid. It explores some of the recent "daily mail" type concerns about GM foods etc, this is hard sci fi. no space ships here. The core of this book is human drama, telling how the core concept alters relationships within a family unit.
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