The Wages of Genius by Gregory Mone


The Wages of Genius
Title : The Wages of Genius
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0786711361
ISBN-10 : 9780786711369
Language : English
Format Type : Hardcover
Number of Pages : 208
Publication : First published April 1, 2003

Almost a century after the birth of a big-headed man who altered our conceptions of light, energy, mass, space, and time, a boy with a similarly large head was born in Ionia, Wyoming. Meet Edward, a self-proclaimed genius who considers the parallels between his life and Albert Einstein's proof of his exceptional brilliance. Nearly twenty-six (Einstein's age the year he discovered E=MC2), he is getting nowhere with his wildly expanding dissertation on science's evolving conception of the void—in short, the modern scientific history of nothing. Convinced that he is on the verge of a major breakthrough, he leaves graduate school and lands an entry-level job at an innovative new company, hoping his intelligence will be put to better use there. Although he's not sure exactly what the company does, Edward believes that with his keen mind and original ideas he will revolutionize everything from cubicle culture to the global marketplace. Told in Edward's endearing, delusional voice, The Wages of Genius is not only a hilarious parody of corporate culture a la Walter Kirn's Up in the Air, but a sympathetic portrait of a hapless young man (think Ignatius J. Reilly) with poor judgment, bad luck, and the best of intentions.

The Wages of Genius Reviews

  • Anita

    Edward thinks he's just like Einstein. He's bright, but he's also young and naive and over-estimates his value to the company as he gets involved in a typical dot-com. Each chapter is preceded by a snippet of Einstein's biography. Good mix of scientific thought, business badness, and youthful over-confidence. I could relate to the "GLEEBS" office experience having lived and worked through the dot-com era myself.

  • Sandee

    I really wanted to like this book about a smart (and possibly psychotic) man entering the dot com craze. I couldn't get into the excesses of the company that he worked for. Someone who went through this craze in SF might like this for its nostalgia but even 10 years later it's like a look at a foreign country.

  • Jan Ackerson

    Have you seen that new TV show "The Big Bang Theory"? The protagonist of this novel is like those guys. It's a funny, funny book.

  • Kevin Connery

    Wanted to, and tried to like, but had serious trouble finishing--there wasn't really any there there, even though it looked good on the surface.

  • Julie

    Ok, just didn't seem to go anywhere.