The Mathematician's Shiva

Stuart Rojstaczer

Jul 2015 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Angela Brazil and Stephen R. Thorne

About this audiobook

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 emigre 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 the author

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.

Angela Brazil is a professional actor who is proud to be a long-standing member of the Resident Acting Company at Trinity Repertory Company. She also teaches at the Brown/Trinity Conservatory. Angela lives with her family in Lincoln, Rhode Island.

Stephen R. Thorne is a professional actor and a member of the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island. He has played Hamlet, Henry V, and Tom Joad, among many other roles. Stephen has narrated over fifty audiobooks.