The Prodigy

A Biography of William James Sidis, America's Greatest Child Prodigy

By: Amy Wallace

Narrated by: Aze Fellner

Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's Summary

William Sidis, 1897-1944, was the world's greatest child prodigy. His IQ was an estiamted 50 to 100 points higher than Einstein's, the highest ever recorded or estimated. His father, a pioneer in the field of abnormal psychology, believed that he and his wife could create a genius in the cradle. They hung alphabet blocks over the baby's crib-and within six months little Billy was speaking. At 18 months he was reading The New York Times; at three, Homer in the original Greek. At six he spoke at least seven languages.

Told with flair and insight ... this is his story.

©1986, 2011 Amy Wallace (P)2011 David N. Wilson

Amazing Biography...

of perhaps the greatest scientific and mathematical genius of all time--and how his parents and a malicious press made it all go terribly wrong. An enlightening and sobering read.

A tarnished national treasure lost forever

Where does The Prodigy rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Among biographies, this book ranks highly and is very thorough in its treatment of the subject. A very worthwhile listen and the best that I've heard this year.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

The relationship with his sister Helena was perhaps the most uplifting as she was the one person in the family who never turned her back on her brother.

What does Aze Fellner bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He does a very good job of keeping the listener enthralled throughout the telling of the story. There are only two small slips of the audio whereby a sentence is repeated twice.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The book kept me captivated throughout and also served as a cautionary tale for me as a father.

Any additional comments?

The author is almost completely silent on why the father was never mentioned again, either positively or negatively after his passing. This was surprising, since the relationship seems to have been much stronger than that of the one between William and his mother.

Both an inspiration and a caution

The story was simultaneously interesting, inspirational, and sad.

The narration was OK. A few times a sentence was repeated in its entirety, but I don’t know if that was because of a misprint in the book itself, or clumsy narration. But it wasn’t too bothersome.

WJS’s story is recommended for those who hope to one day raise an exceptional or above average child through “nurture”: both as a partial guide (some of the “Sidis Method” remains good advice for a child’s intellectual growth), and a cautionary tale.

It can also serve those who were raised by such parents and yet grew up to disappointingly not “reach their potential” (as I was, which is probably why I had tears in my eyes when the point of WJS’s death was reached—after 10 hours, I felt like I’d lost a brother).

dope genius

dope book. best real genius all time. this dude was really smart. dude was definitely handling business up in his skull.

Interesting, credible account.

Heavily researched and accessibly written. I have to give Ms. Wallace her due.

However, this story could have been told in a tighter prose. It also could have been more engaging by skillful use of the substantial drama throughout Sidis' life.

I was looking for a lot more detail on the specifics of his early childhood, but it's just an overview of the family peppered with a few colorful anecdotes. This is no how-to-guide and gives very little detail on the how Sarah Sidis produced such a remarkable individual.

Also, the author seems to echo the disparaging and dismissive attitude of the press at the time, treating Sidis as a cautionary tale - a victim of his own eccentricity. A premise I generally disagree with and dislike. I believe such treatment of Sidis and his ilk illustrates a deep insecurity in society and a need to discredit genius - the greater the genius, the greater the need to tear down that individual.

If this topic interests you, it's a recommend, but just barely.

The Human Brain is a Complex Thing

What happened to William James Sidis is not surprising. Sad, yes, but nothing as complex as the human brain can be predictable. He had great potential as a child but so did Bobby Fischer, the greatest chess player of all time. Both, after amazing feats of brilliance, burned out. "Endgame" can be found at Audible.

If you get a chance, listen to both "The Prodigy" and "Endgame" and compare these two brilliant, but ultimately tragic men. There are many similar examples.

Fascinating story that reads like a novel.

This is the story of a man with an IQ of around 300. The story flows like a steady stream carrying the characters forward through personal whirlpools. The narrator is a gifted storyteller.

Great Book about a sad loss.

This was a great book about a sad loss of human potential and societies insecurities and prejudices.

Well written...

...but repetitive in places. It was clear to me that WJ Sidis was a genius, but also had a high functioning form of Autism. This book would have better served to have at least included this as a possibility, especially in the epilogue when the author explored the real reasons for his misunderstood life. It would have been interesting had he been born into today's world. The unfortunate thing would have been in today's nationalism and prejudice, he may have been treated much the same way. Today too is the tendency for a conservative nationalistic trend to denigrate intellectualism, just as Billy experienced in his time. He would have been a great person to know.

Great book

Great book of a personal hero I love the story and the deep of the information