A Doubter's Almanac
A Novel
Book - 2016
"Milo Andret, the genius who solved the Malosz Conjecture and won the Fields Medal for mathematics, had an unusual, even eerie mind from birth, but not until he moves to Berkeley in the 1970s to pursue a Ph. D. does he realize the extent of his singular talents. From the drug-soaked enclaves of beatnik California to the verdant lawns of Princeton University, from turbo-charged Wall Street to the quiet woods of Michigan, his reputation as one of the century's most brilliant thinkers forms the backbone of a sweeping, epic story about family, love, passion, and Milo's fraught relationship with his son."-- Provided by publisher.
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Publisher:
New York :, Random House,, [2016]
Edition:
First edition
ISBN:
9781400068265
1400068266
9780812996784
1400068266
9780812996784
Characteristics:
xi, 558 pages ; 25 cm
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Add a CommentDreadfully boring, inconsistently paced, needlessly long. The story could be conveyed in less than half the length and save the reader a lot of agony. The protagonist is intensely unlikable, and reading about his foibles is painful. The rest of the characters are flat and, because of the protagonist's personality, utterly extraneous. When I finally managed to slog to the end, I felt like the time I spent reading this could have been better spent watching grass grow.
What does it mean to be a mathematical genius? Gifted so beyond the average person that navigating the everyday world takes on monumental proportions? Milo Andret is one such person and his journey and that of his family and his children's subsequent families are the focus of this lengthy literary novel. It left me contemplating how to balance the light and dark sides of our human gifts, genius or not. Well worth reading.