Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close: A Novel

A funny, uplifting coming-of-age story about a boy’s journey through New York in the aftermath of September 11th from one of today’s most celebrated writers.

Nine-year-old Oskar Schell embarks on an urgent, secret mission that will take him through the five boroughs of New York. His goal is to find the lock that matches a mysterious key that belonged to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11. This seemingly impossible task will bring Oskar into contact with survivors of all sorts of an exhilarating, affecting, often hilarious, and ultimately healing journey. With humor, tenderness, and awe, Jonathan Safran Foer confronts the traumas of our country’s difficult history.

ADD TO MY SHELVES

Recommend book

BUY THE BOOK

Published Apr 4, 2006

368 pages

Average rating: 7.66

145 RATINGS

These clubs recently read this book...

Just One More Chapter Book Club

An ONLINE ONLY book club for anyone and everyone! All are welcome.

Genres included in our reading:

Mystery/Thriller

Romance

Historical Fiction

YA Fiction

Romance

Women's Fiction

General Fiction

Genres NOT INCLUDED:

Science Fiction

Fantasy

Non-Fiction

Discussions through posts and Zoom chats.

Learn More

Books That Bind

Building Bonds through books and conversation. Our club reads a wide range of authors and

genres. Books that Bind is the official Book Club of the Interchurch Center located in the

Morningside/ Harlem area of New York City, NY.

The club was established in 2011 to build bonds and friendship through a shared love of books

among the various tenants of the building and neighbored. Due to the Pandemic the Club is currently meeting on Zoom until further notice. New members are always welcome.

Learn More

Boozy Broads Book Club (Women 40+)

Women 40+ meet up at a wine bar in West Hollywood. We take turns picking diverse books and leading the discussion. Welcome!

Learn More

DISCOVER MORE CLUBS

Community Reviews

Write a review...

What Bookclubbers are saying about this book

✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI

Readers say *Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close* powerfully explores grief and family bonds through a unique, multi-narrator coming-of-age story cent...

Jcallaghan

Feb 17, 2026

6/10 stars

I really wanted to love this book. The writing style was not my favorite. I felt like thoughts ran into each other and the chapters switch back and forth between different narrators and the whole time I'm wondering what's the point. I did enjoy reading it from the perspective of a young child and how he dealt with the aftermath of losing his father to such a tragic event. In the end it all came together but I wished it happened earlier in the book.

Buildbridges

Dec 10, 2025

6/10 stars

It's kind of hard to give a bad review about a book about 9/11 but this one was a struggle for me. The premise of story was good; a young boy finds his father's key and determines to find the lock. It was hard to follow the many characters and their stories. It did come together at the end but it took a lot for me to get through it. I will say I listened to the audiobook so that may be the reason it was difficult.

Gwendola

Nov 30, 2025

10/10 stars

I found it strangely enjoyable

Pferdina

Sep 11, 2025

8/10 stars

I thought this novel was very curious. I liked the story about Oskar and his search for information about his father. The parallel story about his grandparents was also good, though not as interesting to me.

Suzanne82

Aug 16, 2025

10/10 stars

This is a wow book. Beautifully written, beautifully organized, beautiful pages, beautiful story.