Customer Reviews

A Genius in the Family

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I passed on this title about 20 years ago while browsing a bookstore where I believe they had it misplaced in the "self-help" section. Neil Perrin's "Reader's Delight," suggested this eccentric, mischievous fellow as an interesting read; more than that, this is a gem. Written by the son (Hiram Percy Maxim) about his inventor/eccentric 19th Century father (Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim), contemporary rival of Edison and the Wright Brothers, this ignores the technical genius almost entirely, because Percy, the son, aims at capturing his father almost entirely from Percy's diminuitve point of view. As he grows, so does his understanding and admiration of his father. At first, Percy is baffled by his father's Jekyl/Hyde behavior. To his father,Hiram, home is a perfect place for experimentation. Some of these pranks frighten the household. (Children were heard but rarely seen, you see) So, from the beginning, he describes 'misunderstandings' around his home and hearth as disturbances. Then, as Percy grows in size and understanding,the previous eccentricities become enjoyed shared experiments, allowing them to mutually explore the city with wonderment. What makes it so delightful, is that the reader joins in these excursions with increasing excitement and expectation with each chapter. It did not bother me after a few chapters that I would not learn how Hiram developed his machine gun. By that time I was totally captured by the imaginative workings of his mind and went wherever it went. To the park, the bowery or the zoo on occasions. And there were dangers. But again and again, Hiram escaped them with his exceptional wits. There are enough wonderful father-son adventures in this slender book to inspire other fathers with nothing do do. Toward the end of the book, the best is saved for last. The final Maxim adventure takes over 5 years for fruition and proves the worthiness of the title in its unfolding. By then you will know the characteristics that make up a genius quite well.