Life After Genius
-
- $9.99
-
- $9.99
Publisher Description
Part Good Will Hunting, part Anne Tyler, and part Six Feet Under, LIFE AFTER GENIUS is the story of a young math prodigy who leaves college on the brink of graduation, and returns home to confront the ghosts of his past and learn some surprising truths about the nature of failure and success.
Theodore Mead Fegley has always been the smartest person he knows. By age 12, he was in high school, and by 15 he was attending a top-ranking university. And now, at the tender age of 18, he's on the verge of proving the Riemann Hypothesis, a mathematical equation that has mystified academics for almost 150 years. But only days before graduation, Mead suddenly packs his bags and flees home to rural Illinois. What has caused him to flee remains a mystery to all but Mead and a classmate whose quest for success has turned into a dangerous obession.
At home, Mead finds little solace. His past ghosts haunt him; his parents don't understand the agony his genius has caused him, nor his desire to be a normal kid, and his dreams seem crushed forever. He embarks on a new life's journey -- learning the family business of selling furniture and embalming the dead--that disappoints and surprises all who knew him as "the young Fegley genius."
Equal parts academic thriller and poignant coming-of-age story, LIFE AFTER GENIUS follows the remarkable journey of a young man who must discover that the heart may know what the head hasn't yet learned.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A boy genius has a rough go of it in college in Jacoby's uneven debut. While Theodore Mead Fegley's domineering mother looked over his shoulder and his father ran a funeral home and furniture store, Mead's early years were defined by bullies and comparisons to his popular, athletic cousin Percy. At 15, Mead is accepted to the prestigious Chicago University and put on the accelerated track to graduate in three years. With the help of the eccentric Dr. Alexander, Mead is determined to solve the Riemann Hypothesis, a conundrum that has plagued mathematicians for over a century. But Mead's life is soon thrown into disarray by Herman Weinstein, a cunning frenemy and fellow math student, and, as graduation where Mead is supposed to give a much anticipated presentation nears, Mead grows increasingly insecure. The tropes are familiar troubled genius, overbearing mother, kooky mentor and Jacoby, sadly, doesn't do much to tweak the formula. It's a pleasant enough diversion, but there's nothing especially exciting or original going on.
Customer Reviews
Great story and great writing.
It's an awesome book. And when you put it down you keep on thinking about it. Brilliant.