A scientist’s candid, unnerving memoir in which her profession takes a back seat to personal struggles.
An Egyptian American astrophysicist describes a turbulent life.
Nance was educated at a religious private school, where her fascination with the stars overcame her reluctance to quarrel with the school’s minister about spiritual matters. Though her parents were loving, they fought constantly. They separated for the first time when the author was in high school, and they got divorced while she was in graduate school. With a chaotic home life, Nance took shelter in education and her yearning to become an astronomer. Readers will admire her ability to overcome the expected barriers, including sexist teachers and a lack of female mentors and classmates. Most of the text describes the miseries of her personal life; at one point during high school, both parents moved out, leaving her to live alone for much of the year. The author fell in love with a fellow college student, but he turned out to be jealous and abusive. Later, her father was diagnosed with late-stage cancer. After she discovered that she inherited his cancer gene, which would likely lead to breast cancer, she underwent a double mastectomy in her early 20s. The remainder of the book recounts her progress to a career in astrophysics, and Nance discusses inspirational teachers and exhilarating experiences contemplating the heavens, often pausing for short, stand-alone essays on astronomical basics, including planets, black holes, and the Big Bang. The author is unafraid to admit being overwhelmed by her setbacks and recounts a steady stream of crushing disappointments, anxiety, panic attacks, psychotherapy, depression, and treatment for PTSD. “It is at night,” she writes, “when my work pauses and I have no structure, that the terror takes over, when I feel invisible claws wrapping around my heart and squeezing my chest.” At the conclusion, she has found love and a satisfying career.
A scientist’s candid, unnerving memoir in which her profession takes a back seat to personal struggles.Pub Date: June 6, 2023
ISBN: 9780593186794
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: March 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
Alternately admiring and critical, unvarnished, and a closely detailed account of a troubled innovator.
A warts-and-all portrait of the famed techno-entrepreneur—and the warts are nearly beyond counting.
To call Elon Musk (b. 1971) “mercurial” is to undervalue the term; to call him a genius is incorrect. Instead, Musk has a gift for leveraging the genius of others in order to make things work. When they don’t, writes eminent biographer Isaacson, it’s because the notoriously headstrong Musk is so sure of himself that he charges ahead against the advice of others: “He does not like to share power.” In this sharp-edged biography, the author likens Musk to an earlier biographical subject, Steve Jobs. Given Musk’s recent political turn, born of the me-first libertarianism of the very rich, however, Henry Ford also comes to mind. What emerges clearly is that Musk, who may or may not have Asperger’s syndrome (“Empathy did not come naturally”), has nurtured several obsessions for years, apart from a passion for the letter X as both a brand and personal name. He firmly believes that “all requirements should be treated as recommendations”; that it is his destiny to make humankind a multi-planetary civilization through innovations in space travel; that government is generally an impediment and that “the thought police are gaining power”; and that “a maniacal sense of urgency” should guide his businesses. That need for speed has led to undeniable successes in beating schedules and competitors, but it has also wrought disaster: One of the most telling anecdotes in the book concerns Musk’s “demon mode” order to relocate thousands of Twitter servers from Sacramento to Portland at breakneck speed, which trashed big parts of the system for months. To judge by Isaacson’s account, that may have been by design, for Musk’s idea of creative destruction seems to mean mostly chaos.
Alternately admiring and critical, unvarnished, and a closely detailed account of a troubled innovator.Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2023
ISBN: 9781982181284
Page Count: 688
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
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A heartwarming and inspiring story for animal lovers.
The third volume in the Elephant Whisperer series.
In this follow-up to An Elephant in My Kitchen, Malby-Anthony continues her loving portrait of the Thula Thula wildlife reserve, which she co-founded in 1998 with her late husband, South African conservationist Lawrence Anthony, who published the first book in the series, The Elephant Whisperer, in 2009. Following his death in 2012, Malby-Anthony sought to honor his legacy by continuing his vision “to create a massive conservancy in Zululand, incorporating our land and other small farms and community land into one great big game park.” At the same time, the elephants gave her “a sense of purpose and direction.” In the Zulu language, thula means quiet, and though the author consistently seeks to provide that calm to her charges, peace and tranquility are not always easy to come by at Thula Thula. In this installment, Malby-Anthony discusses many of the challenges faced by her and her staff, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic. These included an aggressive, 2-ton rhino named Thabo; the profound loss felt by all upon the death of their elephant matriarch, Frankie; difficulty obtaining permits and the related risk of having to relocate or cull some of their animals; the fear of looting and fire due to civil unrest in the region; and the ongoing and potentially deadly struggles with poachers. Throughout, the author also shares many warm, lighthearted moments, demonstrating the deep bond felt among the humans and animals at the reserve and the powerful effects of the kindness of strangers. “We are all working in unity for the greater good, for the betterment of Thula Thula and all our wildlife….We are humbled by the generosity and love, both from our guests and friends, and from strangers all around the world,” writes the author. “People’s open-hearted support kept us alive in the darkest times.”
A heartwarming and inspiring story for animal lovers.Pub Date: April 25, 2023
ISBN: 9781250284259
Page Count: 320
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
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