My mother once said, “Smart people can be so stupid sometimes.” More than a decade later, I can’t remember why she said this, but I sure hope she wasn’t talking about me! Anyway, this statement kept coming to mind as I read M. Ann Jacoby’s Life After Genius, a coming-of-age story about 18-year-old Theodore “Mead” Fegley, who runs away from college days before graduation.
Mead’s intelligence sets him apart from the other kids his age, so he basically grows up with his nose in a textbook and no friends, aside from his cousin, Percy, whom Mead views more as a rival. Pressured by his mother to succeed, Mead graduates high school early, goes to college at age 15, and tests out of freshman year during his first week on campus.
Jacoby piques readers’ interest right away: Why did Mead leave school abruptly? And who is this creepy Herman Weinstein, who seems to follow Mead everywhere and is way too interested in Mead’s mathematics research. It all has to do with Mead’s obsession with proving or disproving the Riemann Hypothesis, his desire to get ahead without thinking about the consequences of his actions, and his lack of social skills and poor judgment of character. This is where my mother’s saying about academic intelligence not always translating into common sense comes into play. Readers can tell right away that something is fishy about Herman; Mead senses it, too, and you just want to reach into the book and slap him silly.
Jacoby tells Mead’s story in non-linear fashion, shifting back and forth in time and unravelling the relationship between oblivious Mead and creepy Herman in small chunks. The book jacket calls Life After Genius an academic thriller, but I thought the academic part of the story was pretty predictable.
It is in the coming-of-age aspect of the story where Jacoby shines. Mead spends much of his life running away when things don’t go smoothly. But when he returns home, he must confront his mother’s disappointment head on, decide whether his future involves working in the family furniture store/funeral home, and cope with his uncle’s hostility and his aunt’s mental breakdown. The old wounds don’t heal completely and he doesn’t fully grow up, but Mead learns things about himself, his family, and life that can’t be found in textbooks.
While I enjoyed Life After Genius and would recommend it to others, the ending left me a bit disappointed because of some loose ends. But Jacoby did a brilliant job creating a host of complex characters and placing them in unusual situations, holding my interest until the very last page.
(And I love the cover! I’m all about loud socks! Click here, and you’ll understand!)
Read an excerpt of Life After Genius here.
I had the pleasure of interviewing M. Ann Jacoby. I’d like to thank Ms. Jacoby for taking time out of her busy schedule to answer a few questions, and Miriam Parker from Hachette Book Group for making the interview and the entire Early Birds Blog Tour possible.
What was your inspiration for Life After Genius?
My initial idea was to write a novel based on my father, who was a childhood “math genius” with an undertaker as a father, and how he survived the battleground of childhood as the odd kid out. The resulting novel, however, has nothing to do with my dad’s true life experiences.
There are some really interesting and complex characters in the book, particularly Mead and Herman. Are any of them based on people you know, or are they completely fictional?
Mead started out as my father but readers found him neither sympathetic nor believable as a character so I began to fictionalize him, and the more I fictionalized him, the more sympathetic and believable he became. Mead and Herman both went through many drafts where they had time to develop into more complex characters.
How much research did you do for Life After Genius? Did you have an in-depth knowledge of math?
I did not have an in-depth knowledge of math–and I still don’t. I read a book on the Riemann Hypothesis written for the layman–which is mentioned in my acknowledgements page–and familiarized myself with the basic concept of the theorem and with some of the language.
With all the talk about prime number theory, zeta functions, and the Riemann Hypothesis, did you find it hard to incorporate that stuff without bogging down the narrative? My mind goes elsewhere at the mention of math (I’m lucky I can balance my checkbook), but I found all the math talk in Life After Genius interesting.
In earlier drafts, there was more math but I took it out, leaving just enough to let the reader know that Mead is a brainy kid who knows stuff the average person does not. After all, the novel is not about math but about finding one’s place in the world.
Thanks, Ms. Jacoby! Wishing you much success!
To celebrate the release of Life After Genius, Hachette Book Group is offering a copy to one lucky reader. You must have a U.S. or Canada address to enter. No P.O. Boxes. Leave a comment on this post. But instead of saying, “Please enter me,” I’d like you all to answer a question just to make things more interesting. What was your favorite course or subject in school (doesn’t matter what grade)? For an extra entry, blog about the giveaway or post it in your blog sidebar and let me know here. For those of you without a blog, you could email 5 people and ‘cc’ me on the message. Make sure I have a way to contact you if you win! If you don’t have a blog or your blog profile is broken or unavailable, please leave an email address. If I don’t have a way to contact you, your entry won’t be counted! Deadline is Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008.
**Please note that this giveaway is now closed**
Disclosure: I received a copy of Life After Genius from Hachette for review purposes. I am an Amazon associate.
© 2008 Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not reproduce or republish content without permission.
Diary of an Eccentric 