How I Won a Nobel Prize

A Novel

By: Julius Taranto

Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang

Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

An incisive, wickedly funny novel about a graduate student who decides to follow her disgraced mentor to a university that gives safe harbor to scholars of ill repute, igniting a crisis of work and a test of her conscience (and marriage).

Helen is one of the best minds of her generation. A young physicist on a path to solve high-temperature superconductivity, which could save the planet, Helen is torn when she discovers that her brilliant advisor is involved in a sex scandal. Should she give up on her work with him? Or should she accompany him to a controversial university, founded by a provocateur billionaire, that hosts academics that other schools have thrown out?

Helen decides she must go–her work is too important. She brings along her partner, Hew, who is much less sanguine about living on an island where the disgraced and deplorable get to operate with impunity. Soon enough, Helen finds herself drawn to an iconoclastic older novelist, while Hew stews in an increasingly radical protest movement. Their rift deepens until both confront choices that will reshape their lives–and maybe the world.

Irreverent, generous, anchored in character, and provocative without being polemical, How I Won a Nobel Prize illuminates the compromises we’ll make for progress, what it means to be a good person, and how to win a Nobel Prize. Turns out it’s not that hard–if you can run the numbers.

©2023 Julius Taranto (P)2023 Little, Brown & Company

Entertaining. Glimpses of brilliance. Falls short.

This is an entertaining novel which I listened to as an audiobook. There is so much to like here and flashes of true brilliance. As a university professor and biotechnology entrepreneur, there are motifs in the book that are interesting and exciting. There are also a few shortcomings which keep the book from achieving as much as it could have. In particular, the character of Hugh is drawn too simply, too stereotypically, and two-dimensionally. He is at best rendered as a foil and at times almost as a childishly-drawn cartoon instead of a character. Additionally, the conclusion of the book is rushed, simplistic, and convenient. It's a fairytale ending to a story and characters that deserve better. But the greatest shortcoming of this other promising book is the notion of "dynamic equity" that Mr. Taranto promulgates through his narrative and character Hugh. The notion is perfect fodder for intellectual lightweights, tech-philanthropists, and literary types who imagine themselves to be economists. I'll look forward to the author's next book and hope to never have to read about "dynamic equity" again, whether from him or anyone else. On the bright side, the narration is generally excellent.

Entertaining

Fun and witty with depth of subject. Light but still interesting and thought provoking. Worth a listen!

Might Make a Good Sitcom

This satire about a fictional elite university has great potential to be a light and funny sitcom, and I would encourage the author to go in that direction with the work. The main character, written as a woman, seems like a man, to the extent that I kept wishing it was a male narrator. Contradictions to the author on his first published novel, It wasn’t my cup of tea but I can see this as show like “The Office” that’s a bit over the top and superficial in its satire.

Humorous and Insightful Take on Science and Societu

A lighthearted, yet insightful take on the state of current affairs. I wholeheartedly recommend this book!

Extremely listenable and left me thinking

I enjoyed the book. I found many of the questions Taranto poses through his flawed characters to be very thought provoking. The book is funny in the way of Gary Shteyngart, which I appreciated. The only thing that bothered me was a male writer tackling masculinity through the perspective of his female main character. I am not sure that was entirely successful—or at least it made me chuckle to myself in ways I am not sure the author intended. There might even be a "manic pixie dream man" problem here. But still... this book is great.

Smart, but exhausting

I bit off more than I could chew with this one. However, the underlying storyline is universal.

Silly, no depth at all

A truly off putting shallow book, rife with stereotypes and trivial platitudes. Performance is overwrought and often downright silly. Difficult to remain patient. A 100% waste of a credit