The Mathematicians Shiva, Stuart Rojstaczer
The Mathematicians Shiva, Stuart Rojstaczer
List: $16.99 | Sale: $11.89
Club: $8.49

The Mathematician's Shiva

Author: Stuart Rojstaczer

Narrator: Angela Brazil, Stephen R. Thorne

Unabridged: 10 hr 38 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 07/14/2015

Categories: Fiction, Jewish Fiction


Synopsis

When the greatest female mathematician in history passes away, her son, Alexander "Sasha" Karnokovitch, just wants to mourn his mother in peace. But rumor has it the notoriously eccentric Polish émigré has solved one of the most difficult problems in all of mathematics, and has spitefully taken the solution to her grave. As a ragtag group of mathematicians from around the world descends upon Rachela's shiva, determined to find the proof or solve it for themselves—even if it means prying up the floorboards for notes or desperately scrutinizing the mutterings of her African Grey parrot—Sasha must come to terms with his mother's outsized influence on his life.

Spanning decades and continents, from a crowded living room in Madison, Wisconsin, to the windswept beach on the Barents Sea where a young Rachela had her first mathematical breakthrough, The Mathematician's Shiva is an unexpectedly moving and uproariously funny novel that captures humanity's drive not just to survive, but to achieve the impossible.

About Stuart Rojstaczer

Stuart Rojstaczer was raised in Milwaukee and has degrees from the University of Wisconsin, the University of Illinois, and Stanford. He is the author of Gone for Good, and has received the National Jewish Book Award for Outstanding Debut Fiction. For many years, he was a professor of geophysics at Duke University. He lives in Northern California.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Skip on July 12, 2015

This book has received substantial critical acclaim, and the 2014 National Jewish Book Award for best debut novel. It's a shame that it is not more widely read. It's well written, funny, heart-wrenching, and intellectual. A wonderful book club choice. Rachela Karnokovitch is one of the greatest math......more

Goodreads review by Paul on December 21, 2020

I always have the creeping suspicion when reading novels that focus heavily on family relationships that they are more autobiographical than they lead the reader to believe, and to a certain point that puts a damper on my enjoyment. It feels dishonest. The author’s writing skills aren’t powerful eno......more

Goodreads review by Trish on September 15, 2014

"…smart people do stupid things far more often than most people realize." This beautifully conceived novel revolves around the death of a world-class mathematician and the resolution of a proof about turbulence, or the chaotic movement of air and water in the atmosphere during a hurricane. "Actually,......more

Goodreads review by Nancy on June 25, 2019

Math was certainly never one of my subjects. While I scored well on some qualifying exams years later in adulthood, I could barely pull a C in high school without a lot of interference run by friends. Perhaps it was a strong instinct in spacial relations. My brother on the other hand has a master’s......more

Goodreads review by Amy on July 22, 2017

4 stars. This was different, but totally captivating. I first spotted this book on Goodreads somewhere, and later saw it had been a Book of the Month pick for the Jewish Book Club awhile back. I don't know if anyone reviewed it, but I will add my review to the list. I also picked it as one of my fou......more