Cracking the Cube, Ian Scheffler
Cracking the Cube, Ian Scheffler
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Cracking the Cube
Going Slow to Go Fast and Other Unexpected Turns in the World of Competitive Rubik’s Cube Solving

Author: Ian Scheffler

Narrator: Stephen R. Thorne

Unabridged: 8 hr 32 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 03/14/2017


Synopsis

When Hungarian professor Erno Rubik invented the Rubik's Cube (or, rather, his Cube) in the 1970s out of wooden blocks, rubber bands, and paper clips, he didn’t even know if it could be solved, let alone that it would become the world’s most popular puzzle. Since its creation, the Cube has become many things to many people: one of the bestselling children's toys of all time, a symbol of intellectual prowess, a frustrating puzzle with 43.2 quintillion possible permutations, and now a worldwide sporting phenomenon that is introducing the classic brainteaser to a new generation.

In Cracking the Cube, Ian Scheffler reveals that cubing isn’t just fun and games. Along with participating in speedcubing competitions—from the World Championship to local tournaments—and interviewing key figures from the Cube’s history, he journeys to Budapest to seek a meeting with the legendary and notoriously reclusive Rubik, who is still tinkering away with puzzles in his seventies.

About Ian Scheffler

Ian Scheffler has written for the New Yorker, the Guardian, the Los Angeles Times, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. He holds a degree in English from Columbia University, where he coedited the Columbia Review. Cracking the Cube is his first book.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Ellison on September 28, 2021

Journalist goes George Plimpton and participates in Sport Cubing, asking questions along the way, insightful but occasionally mind numbing as he shares insight into know how. Swearing.......more

Goodreads review by Steven on August 23, 2017

Author: Ian Scheffler Title: Cracking the Cube: Going Slow to Go Fast and Other Unexpected Turns in the World of Competitive Rubik’s Cube Solving. Narrator: Stephen R. Thorne Publisher: Tantor Media Unabridged Length of Production: 7 discs/8 hours: 30 minutes Year of Publication: 2017 In 1974, a Hungarian......more

Goodreads review by Nate on February 18, 2017

This book is about people who can solve a Rubik's Cube puzzle in less time than it takes to read this sentence. It is the journey of the author talking to many people in the speed-Rubiks cube solving culture on advice on how to finally solve the puzzle in under 20 seconds. Personally, I didn't know......more

Goodreads review by Kendall on April 05, 2017

This book wanted to be (and I also wanted it to be) Moonwalking with Einstein: journalist pitches article about somewhat niche feat of mental gymnastics, journalist becomes personally invested and maybe even a little obsessed with topic, journalist sprinkles quirky facts about said topic throughout......more

Goodreads review by Hallie on December 25, 2016

Nice intro to the world of competitive cubing ... which I didn't even know existed until I picked up this book, or that it was even feasible to solve the thing in less than 10 seconds. It gives a nice background to how the puzzle was created, how it's risen and fallen in popularity over the decades,......more