Wednesday, Oct 29, 2008

Early Birds Blog Tour: Life After Genius

 What is it like… to be considered: “Genius?”

I’m thrilled to be a part of a book tour in association with Early Birds Blog Tour.  It’s my first one… and, a great experience.  I recommend joining this group and getting involved with the myriad of great books that are offered through this affiliation.

I started this book with a sense of excitement, as the topic of the book intrigued me.  I knew someone, who was also classified a “genius” at a very young age.  This person skipped grades in school and possessed a mind much different than those of the type of person you typically encounter.  This friend of mine had such a different way at looking at life and challenges… and there always lied a curiosity within me about it.  So, for me, this book was an interesting way for me to explore this type of mind, provided, however, that the book was well researched and written.  And, that it was.

I believe that M. Ann Jacoby did an excellent job bringing the reader into the mind of a “genius,” which included the innate brilliance of the logical mind as well as the ability to comprehensively view of the minds of others surrounding them.  In addition, my curiosity was perked… does a brilliant mind have the ability to see things, hear things, or know things intangible in nature?  Let’s use the example of ESP.  Does a genius have the ability to use this part of his/her part brain that others just don’t simply use, yet, as a result of human development or evolution?  Do we all have the ability of ESP, however only certain minds are open to it at this stage in human evolution?  Are genius minds a mere foreshadowing what is yet to come for all of us in 200 years?  As we look back at our historical geniuses, their theories and ideas seem completely logical and discoverable to today’s mind.  So, is a genius an “Early Bird” mind of the future?  I don’t want to lose you, confuse you, or go too far out on a tangent here… but, it’s a question I always wondered about.  And, this novel provided me an interesting viewpoint into this topic.  In Life After Genius, there are correlations to Einstein and famous mathematical thesis/theories dating back well into our history.  And, today, these theories can be proved true or false based on tests made possible by modern science and technology.  So.. the book was one that I really “sunk my brain and my teeth into.”

The Review:

Title:  Life After Genius, A Novel

Author:  M. Ann Jacoby

Publisher:  Grand Central Publishing/Hachette Book Group USA

Author Website: www.lifeaftergenius.com

Publisher Website: www.hachettebookgroupusa.com

Type:  Fiction

Pages (Hardcover): 386

ISBN 10#: 0-446-19971-0

ISBN 13#: 978-0-446-19971-1

M. Ann Jacoby says, “Book Smart is not enough to get you through life.”  I agree.

Jacoby states in her video about this book that this story is based upon the life of her father, a math genius.  The video explains much of the basis upon which she started this book.  Surprisingly enough, if I were to interview her, the questions that I would ask, she’s well addressed in the video… so, visit the website. 

The novel is a story of Theodore Mead Fegley (“Mead”), a mathematical genius.  He is faced with graduating college at the young age of 18 and publishing a thesis paper that would put both his university and himself on “history’s map.”  A lot of pressure for a young man.  Eight days before his college graduation, he quits school and returns home.  There, he attempts to escape his life’s troubles and become more of an unnoticeable type than one whose reputation precedes him.  He becomes rather annoyed with his notoriety and wants to become more a “face in the crowd” type.   His reputation and ability, at this stage in his life, is more of a hindrance than a benefit to him.

The book takes you back and forth between his past (i.e. what brought him back home in the first place) to what he experiences when he returns home.  In returning home, we discover the characters of his family, my favorite being his Aunt Jewel.  How his family interacts with him is very “relate-able” for me and completely realistic to what I’d expect from a family such as his.  During the journey back into his childhood and college experience, the reader is introduced to his college classmates, roommates, professors, and advisers.  His best friend, Herman, is a total creep… with this broken spirit that I believe the reader just wants Mead to help him repair.  Herman is a very strong character in the story and if ever this novel is put to screen, the actor to portray him would be a very unique and talented guy!

This novel is intricate, with many moving parts to it.  It is well written and it took my mind on a journey that I appreciated after the completion of the book.

My Favorite Quotes From The Book:

“Nothing soothes the soul of the savage beast like food.”

“Birds are supposed to fly south for the winter,” Mead says, “and flowers are supposed to bloom in the spring.  Days are supposed to be long in summer and corn is supposed to be harvested in the fall.   But I am neither a bird nor a flower nor a day of the week nor an ear of corn.”

Other Book References:

http://www.lifeaftergenius.com/video/

On Sher’s “One to Ten Scale:”

 Buy Life After Genius at Amazon.com.

You can WIN a copy of Life After Genius!

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