Salvage and Demolition

Salvage and Demolition by Tim Powers, a short novella.  I recommend any books by Tim Powers; some great titles to start with are The Anubis Gates, The Drawing of the Dark, Declare and Last Call.  I was fortunate enough to meet Tim as he is one of the author judges at the Writers of the Future contest.  I had never read one of his books but got to spend some time with him during the workshop week in Hollywood when I won the Illustrators of the Future award in 2007.  We had great convos, and I was eager to read some of his novels after the awards week.  He's such a great writer...so smart and funny.  Books are hard to describe...but perfect.  Speculative fiction/alternative history?