Life After Genius - Hardcover

Jacoby, M. Ann

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0446199710 ISBN 13: 9780446199711

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing, 2008

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author

M. Ann Jacoby has been an art director at Penguin Group USA for the past 20 years. LIFE AFTER GENIUS is her first novel.

Reviews

This ought to be Mead Fegley's best time. He is just days away from college graduation at the tender age of 18 and honored with the chance to give a major presentation. Instead, he's hiding out at his family's funeral parlor looking for an escape into a different future. A boy genius pushed by his mother and terrorized by classmates, Mead heads for college with hopes of freedom and belonging. He quickly learns about academic politics but not quickly enough about friendship. Caught in intrigues beyond his understanding, he only has a few days to sort out what has gone wrong and how to fit the pieces of his life back together. The result is part mystery, part coming-of-age, and entirely engaging. This semiautobiographical novel by an award-winning book-jacket designer whose father was a math genius and whose grandfather was an undertaker is recommended for fiction collections.—Jan Blodgett, Davidson Coll., NC
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Eight days before he is to graduate from college, 18-year-old Mead (who entered the university at 15) boards a train for home. Why has this wunderkind, a mathematical genius, dropped out? Well, one answer is that it’s hell to be so smart, as first novelist Jacoby is at pains to show us in a frieze of flashbacks that depict a lifetime of humiliations. Another, more compelling answer seems to be vested in the enigmatic character of Herman, the rich kid at school who is either Mead’s best friend or worst enemy. The quirky bits of this first novel are its best feature: Mead’s father and uncle are co-owners of a combination furniture store and mortuary, for example, and Mead’s apparent disassociation from reality—though evocative of Sylvia Nasar’s A Beautiful Mind—is intriguing in a what’s-going-on-here way. Jacoby tries too hard to explain everything at the end (especially her characters’ psychological motivations), but the story remains refreshingly offbeat, and the elements of mystery are tantalizing --Michael Cart

Edition details

• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0446199710
• ISBN 13: 9780446199711
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 400