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hectaizani's review against another edition
3.0
Very interesting, but could have been better. The story of the author's journey to California to visit Einstein's granddaughter with the pathologist who originally "stole" Einstein's brain at autopsy. As they ride around with pieces of Einstein's brain in the trunk, the author attempts to relate the story of why the brain was taken in the first place - research, of course - and what has been done with it all these many years - not all that much, some pieces have gone to other researchers and an article or two has been published but that's about it.
nuthatch's review against another edition
4.0
This is one of the oddest road trip books I have ever read.
sarahcoller's review against another edition
1.0
I read the first five chapters of this last night and have decided to stop. Not only is it not very interesting or engaging, it's also really crude. I mean, there are plenty of people alive now who remember Einstein---he has several living relatives. Just because he was famous doesn't mean we all have a right to him---or that anyone does---and to be so flippant about the illegal desecration of his body is beyond quirky. It's just plain poor taste. These guys should have been arrested. I find nothing redeeming about what I've read. I do not recommend. Ew.
stitchykitch's review against another edition
1.0
I did not like the point of view in this novel. It was never clear whether I was reading a biography of Einstein, or the memoir of the guy who did the autopsy, or an autobiography of the narrator.
Some of the tidbits background given about Einstein's theories were interesting, but overall, the book lacked in depth/plot.
I was really expecting some kind of serious reflection or life lessons learned as I would expect to find in such an odessy, but was sorely disappointed.
I'm surprised I finished this book.
Some of the tidbits background given about Einstein's theories were interesting, but overall, the book lacked in depth/plot.
I was really expecting some kind of serious reflection or life lessons learned as I would expect to find in such an odessy, but was sorely disappointed.
I'm surprised I finished this book.
judyward's review against another edition
3.0
How do you not check out a book about a road trip across the country in a Buick Skylark with Albert Einstein's brain in a Tupperware container as a passenger? I was hooked after reading a description of the book and I'm glad that I threw it into the pile that I hauled to the checkout desk. This is the situation in which Michael Paterniti, a journalist, found himself. It seems that Thomas Harvey, a pathologist who was 84 years old at the time of the cross-country odyssey, performed the autopsy on Albert Einstein after his death in 1955 and Harvey took Einstein's brain home with him after the procedure was completed. Now it's time to drive the brain to California to deliver it to Einstein's granddaughter. It's quite the journey that mixes history and an amazing travelogue. I'm so glad that they didn't decided to simply let the brain fly coach.