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A review by willardk
The Violinist's Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code by Sam Kean
5.0
This book mentions F. Scott Fitzgerald. In the end notes and briefly, yes, but that's enough to make it pretty damn awesome for me.
Besides that little spoiler, though, this was a fantastic book, and I would've given it five stars whether or not my dear old friend Fitzy was mentioned at all.
EDIT: I can't in good conscience keep this book on my favorites shelf. Sam Kean and I had a long-standing affair (I say that even though neither of us are married), and he really hurt me. Maybe this isn't the appropriate space to vent about this, but I feel like I've never been able to tell anyone other than my closest friends about it, since he was quite embarrassed to be "dating" me. (I use the term "dating" VERY euphemistically.) He really hurt me. I don't want to discourage people from reading his books, but just remember: writers can be shitty people. I've lived too long with the illusion that good writing can make up for anything, but it quite simply can't make up for the current wretched state of my love life.
Besides that little spoiler, though, this was a fantastic book, and I would've given it five stars whether or not my dear old friend Fitzy was mentioned at all.
EDIT: I can't in good conscience keep this book on my favorites shelf. Sam Kean and I had a long-standing affair (I say that even though neither of us are married), and he really hurt me. Maybe this isn't the appropriate space to vent about this, but I feel like I've never been able to tell anyone other than my closest friends about it, since he was quite embarrassed to be "dating" me. (I use the term "dating" VERY euphemistically.) He really hurt me. I don't want to discourage people from reading his books, but just remember: writers can be shitty people. I've lived too long with the illusion that good writing can make up for anything, but it quite simply can't make up for the current wretched state of my love life.