A review by bargainbinkazbrekker
American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin

4.0

a very thorough technical look into Oppenheimers life, there’s very little emotion in the writing and we’re told about all the scientific work he did in great detail which can be very tedious. it felt like i learned every book he read, every person he met even in passing, and briefly touched in a very dispassionate way into his personal life. his relationships aren’t really given depth, sure they’re talked about but they don’t feel real, which is bizarre that they’re written that way considering Oppenheimer was a real person? but i do think this is the technical partner to the movie. the movie touches on the emotional aspects much more while this book delves deeply into the history. if one feels the movie didn’t provide enough context historically, this book will make up for it and vise versa, if one feels the book doesn’t provide much emotional complexity, the movie will do that for you. i think they work best as a package deal if one cares enough.