The Wages of Genius
Books / Hardcover
ISBN: 0786711361 / Publisher: Carroll & Graf, April 2003
Convinced that he is Einstein's intellectual heir, Edward drops out of graduate school to take an entry-level job at an innovative new company, where he believes he will revolutionize the business world.
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Almost a century after the birth of Albert Einstein, the man who altered the course of science in the twentieth century and popularized unkempt hair, a boy with grand potential was born in Ionia, Wyoming. Meet Edward, a self-proclaimed genius who believes that he is Einstein's intellectural heir, the next in a long line of great thinkers destined to transform our worldview. As proof of their special cerebral bond, he points to the remarkable parallels between his and Einstein's life: Like Einstein, he was born with an unusually large head and was slow to speak; and he, too, reviles athletic activities, enjoys sausage and cheese, coffee and cigars, and long, thoughtful walks.Edward takes this kinship seriously. He believes that if he doesn't keep pace with his predecessor the link will be broken. Now nearly twenty-six (Einstein's age the year he devised E=MCÝsuperscript 2¨) and exasperated with academia's reluctance to accept the brilliance of his work on the scientific history of nothing, Edward lands an entry-level job at an innovative new company and flees graduate school. Although he's not exactly sure what the company does, Edward believes that his genius will prove to be of enormous value and sets out to reshape everything from cubicle culture to the global marketplace.Edward spends long hours thinking too much, accomplishing too little, and falling asleep at his desk with alarming frequency. Comically unaware of his own irrelevance, he is convinced that he will revolutionize the business world. Told in Edward's endearing, delusional voice, The Wages of Genius is a novel about a hapless young man with poor judgment, bad luck, and the best of intentions.
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