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A Beautiful Mind (Abridged): The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash Audiobook
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Publisher Description
**Also an Academy Award–winning film starring Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly—directed by Ron Howard**
The powerful, dramatic biography of math genius John Nash, who overcame serious mental illness and schizophrenia to win the Nobel Prize.
“How could you, a mathematician, believe that extraterrestrials were sending you messages?” the visitor from Harvard asked the West Virginian with the movie-star looks and Olympian manner. “Because the ideas I had about supernatural beings came to me the same way my mathematical ideas did,” came the answer. “So I took them seriously.”
Thus begins the true story of John Nash, the mathematical genius who was a legend by age thirty when he slipped into madness, and who—thanks to the selflessness of a beautiful woman and the loyalty of the mathematics community—emerged after decades of ghostlike existence to win a Nobel Prize for triggering the game theory revolution. The inspiration for an Academy Award–winning movie, Sylvia Nasar’s now-classic biography is a drama about the mystery of the human mind, triumph over adversity, and the healing power of love.
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"I saw the movie made from this book years ago, and cried. It reminded me so much of my late husband, who wasn't exactly a genius but was "too smart for his own good," as his dad used to say. He was eccentric and had stores about being in the military and elsewhere that happened long before I met him. I used to wonder if it mattered if they were true, but eventually decided that it didn't. This book is a bit sadder than the movie, and shows more of Nash's human faults, but I loved listening to it. I have seen for myself that being very smart and living a "normal" life are sometimes impossible. This book makes Nash HUMAN."
— Twigsy (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“A Beautiful Mind is a brilliant book—at once a powerful and moving biography of a great mathematical genius and an important contribution to American intellectual history.”
— David Herbert Donald, New York Times bestselling author -
“A Beautiful Mind is a splendid book, deeply interesting and extraordinarily moving, remarkable for its sympathetic insights into both genius and schizophrenia. It is equally gripping as a portrait of the mathematical community at Princeton and of Nash’s friends and family, and the perhaps crucial part they played in his psychic survival and eventual emergence.”
— Oliver Sacks, bestselling author of Awakenings -
“A Beautiful Mind tells a moving story and offers a remarkable look into the arcane world of mathematics and the tragedy of madness.”
— New York Times Book Review -
“Superbly written and eminently fascinating.”
— Boston Globe -
“Nasar has written an intriguing account of a fascinating man, of a ‘beautiful’ mind, and of terrible madness. She has also written a deeply moving love story, an account of the centrality of human relationships in a world of nightmare and genius.”
— New England Journal of Medicine -
“Economist and journalist Sylvia Nasar has written a biography of Nash that looks at all sides of his life. She gives an intelligent, understandable exposition of his mathematical ideas and a picture of schizophrenia that is evocative but decidedly unromantic. Her story of the machinations behind Nash’s Nobel is fascinating…highly recommended.”
— Amazon.com editorial review -
“Every once in a while there appears a book on science that mirrors the splendor of its subject. Sylvia Nasar’s A Beautiful Mind is such a book—an eloquent, heartbreaking, and heartwarming tale, told with elegance and assurance of a major writer.”
— Timothy Ferris, author of Coming of Age in the Milky Way -
“A notable biography…Nasar, an economics correspondent for the New York Times, is equally adept at probing the puzzle of schizophrenia and giving a non-technical context for Nash’s mathematical and scientific ideas.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“Rarely has the fragility of the boundary separating genius from madness been illustrated with more compelling insight…Untangling the strands of this perplexing life requires the rare author who can explicate the complex rationality of differential calculus and also plumb the bizarre illogic of schizophrenia…Nasar tells the story of a great mind broken and then healed with subtle sympathy, which will touch any reader who understands what it means to hope—or to fear.”
— Booklist -
“Nasar tells a story of triumph, tragedy, and enduring love.”
— Library Journal -
“Nasar…provid[es] a sense of the rarefied and competitive atmosphere of mathematics departments in the nation’s leading universities during the height of the Cold War. The peripheral characters of the book are vividly drawn, and episodes in Nash’s life are painted with an extraordinary attention to detail. She also presents advanced mathematical theories in an accessible and palatable way.”
— Kirkus Reviews
Awards
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A #1 New York Times bestseller
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Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography and Autobiography in 1998
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Finalist for the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Biography
A Beautiful Mind Listener Reviews
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" These book tells a story of Mr. Nash , I advise everyone to read it "
— Hayfa, 2/18/2014 -
" I read this at a track meet...maybe because I was surrounded by sweaty athletes, or just sat there and read on the hard floor for 5 hours, but it was a little dry... "
— Simmie, 2/10/2014 -
" I picked up this audio book on a fluke at the library. I don't think I would have made it through the print version. It is interesting and very well written, but dense. It did open my eyes to life in academia, and I am looking forward to watching the movie. How could anyone possibly turn this tome into a popular movie? "
— Mamatoe, 2/9/2014 -
" Great personality, speculative and insensitive treatment "
— Nima, 2/2/2014 -
" One of the few books where I really did enjoy the movie as well. "
— Lisa, 1/30/2014 -
" this book is much better than the movie. Overall I really enjoyed reading and found this story facinating. "
— Hailey, 1/24/2014 -
" I wanted to like it but found it slow and disjointed, and had to push myself to finish it. "
— Margaret, 1/20/2014 -
" Paints a more complete, intricate picture of Nash than the film. Not necessarily a quick read but definitely worth the time. "
— Debra, 1/15/2014 -
" Interesting, well written, but too long. Too much detail. "
— Barbara, 1/14/2014 -
" I found myself haunted by the movie and used this book to ground myself. Nash is fascinating; Nasar does not provide a lyric or symbolic frame of how imprisoned he was. It is a harsher reality of his day to day life and it helps shake the ache of the movie off. "
— Pricia, 1/4/2014 -
" Genius, schizophrenic. Interesting, but did I finish it? "
— Cindy, 12/30/2013 -
" Great movie & Great Book. It amazes me how the mind of a human works.. All the struggles he went thru & overcome. "
— Lydia, 12/21/2013 -
" A great novel, showing what true love is all about and what it can accomplish. "
— Anne-marie, 12/17/2013 -
" Mathematical geniuses with debilitating mental problems are people too. "
— James, 12/1/2013 -
" Evocatively written. But try saying that to a psychotic... insenstive title I thought "
— Gideon, 8/19/2013 -
" Quite an engaging read. The scientific life was well described and the intricacies between friends also insightful. "
— Patty, 3/6/2013 -
" fascinating and NOTHING like the hollywood film "
— David, 3/3/2013 -
" I found the book hard to finish because it is written like thesis, with lots of detail and footnotes, but I stuck with it because I found the story of John Nash's battle with mental illness fascinating "
— Gail, 8/13/2012 -
" Extremely interesting. 4 stars because it is difficult to get through at times. "
— Brooke, 6/20/2012 -
" The book about Nash is definately more accurate than the movie, and includes things like his rumored homosexual affairs during his marriage, also the fact that he neglected his first child from a previous relationship. "
— Shannap12, 5/4/2012 -
" I am glad that I read this book and saw the film, because it just shows how Hollywood can simplify a person's life. Although I didn't find Nash particularly likable, he is fascinating. "
— Ke, 7/27/2011 -
" It's the survival of the fittest. (Even if it's between you and YOU). "
— Deepak, 5/15/2011 -
" Buku hebat tentang orang hebat. Ketika membaca buku ini saya berpikir, hanya ada benang tipis yang membedakan kegeniusan dari kegilaan. "
— Muhammad, 4/28/2011 -
" A mind boggling read for someone who has no clue when it comes to math but wishes he did. Drags a bit while working through some of the details of his illness, and unfortunately, there's not a lot of detail on his recovery. But eye-opening and well worth the read. "
— Prawlins, 4/3/2011 -
" Genius, schizophrenic. Interesting, but did I finish it? "
— Cindy, 3/17/2011 -
" Very dry. Nash is a difficult character to like. "
— Stargazer, 3/2/2011 -
" I found the book hard to finish because it is written like thesis, with lots of detail and footnotes, but I stuck with it because I found the story of John Nash's battle with mental illness fascinating "
— Gail, 3/1/2011 -
" The book is a great combination of insightful and intimate. It is packed with detail, but does not drag.<br/><br/>my favorite quote: "They argue about money, the housework, Johnny, social engagements, but he has committed himself to making her life easier and more joyful." "
— Benjamin, 2/27/2011 -
" Fascinating enough for me to finish but not exactly a page turner. Even in the midst of bad choices, meanness, supreme selfishness, and eventual mental instability Dr. Nash had beautiful things to offer the world in his way. Sad to see the wreckage along the way though. "
— Brian, 2/19/2011 -
" A very interesting biography about a brilliant and complex bully. I really enjoyed the book and really hated the movie. The movie took artistic license to criminal heights. "
— David, 2/12/2011 -
" Just in love with this book! This man inspires respect and deserves Nobel Prize. "
— Kate, 1/24/2011 -
" I did enjoy this bio, but most of it was over my head. <br/>It didn't get really interesting until half way through the book. "
— Kerilotion, 1/17/2011
About Sylvia Nasar
Sylvia Nasar, a former economics correspondent for the New York Times, is the Knight Professor of Journalism at Columbia University. She lives in Tarrytown, New York.
About Edward Herrmann
Edward Herrmann (1943–2014) was one of America’s top audiobook narrators. He won multiple Audie Awards and twenty-two Earphones Awards, and his narration of the King James version of the Bible remains a benchmark in the industry.