Most novels ostensibly about math feature math as a [a:Dan Brown|630|Dan Brown|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1399396714p2/630.jpg]-ian McGuffin, approximately equivalent to magic: we take these numbers and then Do Math and then the secret to the universe pops out-style. That is not the Mathematician's Shiva. This is a book written by someone who clearly loves and understands math. The whole novel is basically a love poem to math, and cold Wisconsin winters, supported by knowing winks at academic culture and a heavy dose of Madison in its setting. Out of that comes a charming family story, staring all middle-aged protagonists (shout-out to Jon, who's into that sort of thing), as well as some thoughtful exploration of the meaning of religion, and specifically Judaism to a bunch of hard-nosed skeptics who don't literally believe but still gain value, the difference between intelligence and genius and the areas of the world where gender discrimination is alive and well.

I'm not totally sure who this novel was actually for, but as an academic Eastern-European Jewish math-enthusiast, cross-country-skiing-enthusiast who was born and raised in Madison, I enjoyed it largely as a "hey, look at that, someone wrote a book just for me!" I'm not sure whether a broader audience would appreciate it. ( )

Rating: 3*of five

The Publisher Says: A comic, bittersweet tale of family evocative of The Yiddish Policemen’s Union and Everything Is Illuminated

Alexander "Sasha" Karnokovitch and his family would like to mourn the passing of his mother, Rachela, with modesty and dignity. But Rachela, a famous Polish émigré mathematician and professor at the University of Wisconsin, is rumored to have solved the million-dollar, Navier-Stokes Millennium Prize problem. Rumor also has it that she spitefully took the solution to her grave. To Sasha’s chagrin, a ragtag group of socially challenged mathematicians arrives in Madison and crashes the shiva, vowing to do whatever it takes to find the solution — even if it means prying up the floorboards for Rachela’s notes.

Written by a Ph.D. geophysicist, this hilarious and multi-layered debut novel brims with colorful characters and brilliantly captures humanity’s drive not just to survive, but to solve the impossible.

I RECEIVED AN ARC FROM THE PUBLISHER. THANK YOU.

My Review: Perfectly adequate prose telling a meant-to-be funny story about the strongly coded as autistic geeks in the mathematics universe. Not remotely amusing to someone, like me, who has actually autistic relatives.

YMMV, of course. ( )

This book is set in my hometown, Madison Wi. Lots of local color. I think this would be a good movie. Not as dark as "This is Where I Leave You" ( )

A quote, from the writings of the narrator's mother:
...this difference between our wish for an orderly universe and the reality of the calamity of the natural world makes us deny reality. While denial of our personal difficulties, and I know this better than Proust, can actually help us live our daily lives and give us the strength to survive under the worst conditions, our denial of the lack of order in the physical world creates havoc. Planes crash because of our false optimism. ... [p. 207]

And her final words, and the final words of the book (see below), are lovely and worth reading, and don't really spoil anything. ( )

A lovely satisfying book. As someone from Madison who's at least a little familiar with the Vilas neighborhood I also enjoyed watching the landmarks pop up. ( )