Simon: The Genius in my Basement
The Genius in my Basement
Published on 21. June 2012
Book
Paperback/Softback
368 pages
978-0-00-724339-6 (ISBN)
Description
From the author of 'Stuart: A Life Backwards'; a warm and witty portrait of a harmless, eccentric, bona fide genius.
Alexander Master's landlord, Simon, lives in the basement of their Cambridge house. Between teetering towers of outdated maps and slagheaps of plastic bags, Simon eats endless meals of tinned kippers and plans trips on the Cambridge public transport system.
But Simon was one of the greatest mathematical prodigies of the twentieth century. He spends his time between train journeys working on a theoretical puzzle so complex and critical to our understanding of the universe that it is known as the Monster.
Poignant and comical, 'Simon: The Genius in my Basement' is about the frailty of brilliance and how genius matters very little in the search for happiness.
Alexander Master's landlord, Simon, lives in the basement of their Cambridge house. Between teetering towers of outdated maps and slagheaps of plastic bags, Simon eats endless meals of tinned kippers and plans trips on the Cambridge public transport system.
But Simon was one of the greatest mathematical prodigies of the twentieth century. He spends his time between train journeys working on a theoretical puzzle so complex and critical to our understanding of the universe that it is known as the Monster.
Poignant and comical, 'Simon: The Genius in my Basement' is about the frailty of brilliance and how genius matters very little in the search for happiness.
Reviews / Votes
'Masters has managed to convey something of the beauty and mystery not just of mathematics but of the human spirit' Sunday Telegraph'Pick of the Paperbacks' in the Sunday Times; 'Astonishingly good... gloriously funny and surprising'
'This book is a complete success ... By the end we have come just about to love [Simon]' Evening Standard
'Astonishingly good ... a glorious book: funny, surprising and completely sui generis' Sunday Times
'A wonderful book which shows you don't have to be 'normal' to be happy.' Daily Mail
'New and open and risky and humane ... much is delightful - the bloggy, scrapbooky aspect, the kipple and backchat and disgusting food... ' Guardian
'Wholly original' Mail on Sunday, Book of the Week
'Exuberant and compelling...This is both a happy and funny book. It is decorated with Masters' elegant cartoons and his language is lyrical' FT
'An absorbing read, with Masters' deft pen and idiosyncratic style once again in evidence' The Times, Book of the Week
'A comically tender portrait' Observer, Book of the Week
'A wonderful book which shows you don't have to be 'normal' to be happy' Daily Mail
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers
Product notice
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 126 mm
Thickness: 32 mm
Weight
261 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-00-724339-6 (9780007243396)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Alexander Masters
The Genius in my Basement
E-Book
09/2011
Fourth Estate Ltd
€8.49
Available for download
Person
Alexander Masters lives in London. His first book, 'Stuart: A Life Backwards', was a Sunday Times bestseller and the winner of the Guardian First Book Award.