Doubter's Almanac (Canin) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
Mathematicians, like rich people, are different from you and me. Just how different is the subject of Ethan Canin’s remarkable novel.Milo Andret is a certified genius, a rare math talent in a field flush with talent. But his brilliance—a gift and a curse—becomes an obsession, alienating him from anyone who ventures near. Worse, it has a devastating impact on his wife and children.  READ MORE.
Molly Lundquist - LitLovers


Math made beautiful.... Ethan Canin writes with such luxuriant beauty and tender sympathy that even victims of Algebra II will follow his calculations of the heart with rapt comprehension.
Washington Post
 

A blazingly intelligent novel.
Los Angeles Times


[Canin] is at the top of his form, fluent, immersive, confident. You might not know where he’s taking you, but the characters are so vivid, Hans’s voice rendered so precisely, that it’s impossible not to trust in the story.... "It was as though the numerals had been expressly fabricated, like more-perfect words, to elucidate the details of creation," Canin writes of Milo’s passion for math, though he might as well be referring to his novel, in which the delicate networks of emotion and connection that make up a family are illuminated, as if by magic, via his prose.
Slate
 

Canin’s hugely anticipated tale of male genius and its destructive power is a fine-grained portrait of a troubled mathematician and the emotional footprint he leaves behind.
Vogue


(Starred review.) [S]tunning assurance and elegant, resonant prose.... Fascinating in its character portrayal and psychological insights.... Canin’s accomplishments are many, not least of which is his...superb storytelling that makes this novel a tremendous literary achievement.
Publishers Weekly


(Starred review.) [A] compelling family saga that follows troubled math genius Milo Andret from birth to death.... Verdict: A moving, spiritual journey, this poetic novel clocks in at well over 500 pages but begs to be read in one sitting...it's tough to keep a dry eye through this one. —Kate Gray, Boston P.L.
Library Journal


(Starred review.) Epic...thoroughly absorbing...a nuanced, heartbreaking portrait of a tortured mathematician.... Canin, in translucent prose, elucidates the way a mathematician sees the world and humanity’s own insignificance within it. A harrowing, poignant read about the blessing and curse of genius.
Booklist


This complex portrait of a troubled math genius and the effect his gift has on those close to him combines a strong narrative and bumper crop of themes.... Canin then switches to the voice of Milo's son, Hans.... Mean Dad was the motherlode, and it's not clear that Canin's easing of the darkness makes for a better novel.
Kirkus Reviews