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Top positive review
8 people found this helpful
4.0 out of 5 starsA useful addition to the collection of memoirs by acquired savants
Bytreekilleron January 12, 2017
Struck by Genius is a useful addition to the growing collection of memoirs written by acquired savants-- and I think is primarily of interest to those who have a particular interest in this topic. Some reviewers complain about the inclusion of detailed mathematical discussion of Jason Padgett's drawings. However, other reviewers wish there were actually more math, and lament the many pages devoted to descriptions of Jason's personal challenges in dealing with his accident and its consequences. Others (and I count myself in this camp) are put off by the persistent self-congratulatory remarks throughout the book, and I find myself wondering how these survived the influence of a co-writer, agent, and editor. Nevertheless, what the majority of readers seem to agree upon, is that the brain is an exquisitely complex and mysterious organ, and that Jason Padgett's account of his experience leads us to contemplate the remarkable possibilities as we progress in unlocking the brain's secrets.
Top critical review
4 people found this helpful
3.0 out of 5 starsDisappointing
ByBook Loveron May 18, 2014
I love books about the workings of the human mind, and the true story of a party boy who becomes a mathematical genius after surviving a mugging seemed like it was right up my alley. Unfortunately his newly-discovered genius did not extend to writing, and even with a co-author, the writing was labored and repetitive. What would have been a fascinating article in the New Yorker was a dull slog through the self-absorbed ramblings of a Rain Man wanna-be. Do yourself a favor and skip this in favor of Born On A Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant by Daniel Tammet, a much more interesting memoir on a similar subject.
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ByBook Loveron May 18, 2014
I love books about the workings of the human mind, and the true story of a party boy who becomes a mathematical genius after surviving a mugging seemed like it was right up my alley. Unfortunately his newly-discovered genius did not extend to writing, and even with a co-author, the writing was labored and repetitive. What would have been a fascinating article in the New Yorker was a dull slog through the self-absorbed ramblings of a Rain Man wanna-be. Do yourself a favor and skip this in favor of Born On A Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant by Daniel Tammet, a much more interesting memoir on a similar subject.
4 people found this helpful
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Byvincit veritason June 27, 2014
This story could have been told in half the pages. He might have spent a little more time educating us on other people with this condition so we might be better educated on the condition he is experiencing. A little disappointed.
Bykabhon December 25, 2014
Interesting but repetitive. Could be condensed. Would like to read more about the translation of visions to drawings as opposed to endless laundry list of OCD issues.
ByREVIEW JUSTICEon August 21, 2014
I have a soft spot for these kind of books, Born on a Blue Day, Curious Incident, etc. But this one wasn't as well written. An interesting read, but the guy came off as a bit arrogant after a while.
ByErnest C. Sealson May 28, 2014
It was an interesting story but not really a whole book. I bought it for a friend who is into math
3.0 out of 5 starsHe goes on at great length about his fascination with graphics and the concept ...
Bybig nickon July 9, 2014
The main problems with this book are its title and length. Nowhere did I find any evidence that the author became a “mathematical marvel” after suffering head trauma from a mugging. Much of the book is interesting and describes how his personality was completely transformed from party animal to serious student after brain trauma which resulted from the beating he sustained on his way home from a party. However, I saw no evidence of mathematical genius. He goes on at great length about his fascination with graphics and the concept of pi. He also inserts math buzz words and drops the names of prominent mathematicians in an apparent attempt to convince the reader that his injuries gave him new insights into mathematics. He is critical of calculus because it relies on approaching infinity to obtain approximate results, yet he relies on exhaustive graphics to do the same thing. His drawings which are displayed in the book are impressive but it doesn't take a “mathematical marvel” to draw graphic designs; it takes great patience, a compass, a straight edge and time.
Still, it was interesting to read how he turned his life around after suffering his self-diagnosis of PTSD and obsessive compulsive disorder after the beating. I just wish he hadn't devoted so many pages to details about his interactions with people or with his new interest in meditation after he was mugged. I had the feeling that there wasn't enough material for a book and his publisher told him to flesh it out.
This book could have benefited from some good editing or, better, it would have made a good magazine article. An even better alternative would be to condense it substantially and offer it to Oliver Sacks for a case history in his next book. If you can't speed read, you'll spend a lot of time on this book.
Bottom line: The book is really about a young man who changed from a party boy to a serious student after he suffered brain trauma from a mugging. Worth reading but not worth buying. Check your local library.
Still, it was interesting to read how he turned his life around after suffering his self-diagnosis of PTSD and obsessive compulsive disorder after the beating. I just wish he hadn't devoted so many pages to details about his interactions with people or with his new interest in meditation after he was mugged. I had the feeling that there wasn't enough material for a book and his publisher told him to flesh it out.
This book could have benefited from some good editing or, better, it would have made a good magazine article. An even better alternative would be to condense it substantially and offer it to Oliver Sacks for a case history in his next book. If you can't speed read, you'll spend a lot of time on this book.
Bottom line: The book is really about a young man who changed from a party boy to a serious student after he suffered brain trauma from a mugging. Worth reading but not worth buying. Check your local library.
"Struck By Genius: How a Brain Injury Made Me a Mathematical Marvel" (2014 publication; 255 pages) is the memoir of Jason Padgett (co-authored with Maurenn Seaberg). At the beginning of the book, we get a brief glimpse of what the author refers to as "Jason 2.0", before we go back in time and get to know the original "Jason 1.0", a somewhat brash kid who loved nothing more than to go out and party and have a good time. One evening in September, 2002 on his way home from a bar, Jason is mugged by a couple of guys, and along the way Jason suffers a traumatic brain injury. Then strange things start happening... To tell you more would spoil your reading experience, you'll have to read for yourself how it all plays out.
Couple of comments: first, I cannot even begin to comprehend what a life-changing event this must be for someone. Comments Jason: "I was able to compare the me from before the mugging and the me after it, and they didn't match up, which was very confusing to me". A good part of the book comes from this self-reflection and confusion about the "old" and "new" Jason Padgett. Second, the book is full of semi-medical talk of things like "synesthesia", "sudden-onset savant syndrome" and the like. While I assume all of it is correct (I personally wouldn't know), it just goes on and on and frankly feels tedious after a while. Far more interesting (to me anyway) are the things happening in Jason's personal life, and his retelling of the courtship of a Russian young woman named Elena, which leads him to visit her in St. Petersburg and Pskov, is the highlight of the book. The book then really nosedives towards the end when Jason gets more and more involved in the "society of synesthetes" (my words), speaking at conferences etc. It feels a bit like a cult to me, but more importantly the descriptions of the conferences and the speeches at the conferences go on way too long to keep the reader's interest.
Bottom line: the mugging of and ensuing brain injury to Jason Padgett was horrible, yet some great things happened to him as a result. It seems that Mr. Padgett is a genuinly "nice guy" and I wish him nothing but the best. That said, this memoir is not the most compelling, and in the end feels as if it is written only for those who have a particular interest in "synesthesia/savant syndrome".
Couple of comments: first, I cannot even begin to comprehend what a life-changing event this must be for someone. Comments Jason: "I was able to compare the me from before the mugging and the me after it, and they didn't match up, which was very confusing to me". A good part of the book comes from this self-reflection and confusion about the "old" and "new" Jason Padgett. Second, the book is full of semi-medical talk of things like "synesthesia", "sudden-onset savant syndrome" and the like. While I assume all of it is correct (I personally wouldn't know), it just goes on and on and frankly feels tedious after a while. Far more interesting (to me anyway) are the things happening in Jason's personal life, and his retelling of the courtship of a Russian young woman named Elena, which leads him to visit her in St. Petersburg and Pskov, is the highlight of the book. The book then really nosedives towards the end when Jason gets more and more involved in the "society of synesthetes" (my words), speaking at conferences etc. It feels a bit like a cult to me, but more importantly the descriptions of the conferences and the speeches at the conferences go on way too long to keep the reader's interest.
Bottom line: the mugging of and ensuing brain injury to Jason Padgett was horrible, yet some great things happened to him as a result. It seems that Mr. Padgett is a genuinly "nice guy" and I wish him nothing but the best. That said, this memoir is not the most compelling, and in the end feels as if it is written only for those who have a particular interest in "synesthesia/savant syndrome".
Written well and somewhat engaging, this book is more about one man's ability to turn a tragic occurrence into a gift that mirrors the synesthesia found in savants. While the story of how this all came to be and the process of how Padgett recovers to discover his newfound gift are engaging, to a degree, I'm not sure the skills he develops as a result of the accident could be considered the skills of a genius. Interesting and thought-provoking, for sure. If this had been a story told from the perspective of a man who considered himself lucky and possible the result of a miracle (a stretch, but there are those out there convoluted enough in thinking to suggest such an occurrence here), that would have been something else entirely. Synesthesia is a gift best told by those born with such a gift. As such, hearing it from individuals like Daniel Tammet, for example, might provide for a far more interesting read.
When I read the book description (that the writer acquires Savant syndrome after a brutal attack), I expected to read he came out of a weeks-long coma a sudden math genius. Surprisingly, after he was hit on the head, he got up and went home, already manifesting his new math genius and synesthesia. The lesson of Mr. Padgett's story is remarkable: we may all have this genius-level understanding of (math, music, etc.) in our brains, but it's only "unlocked" for a small few. Mr. Padgett was a self-described mulleted party boy with little focus or direction. After a hit to the head after leaving a bar, he became a reclusive, obsessive-compulsive math genius, literally overnight.
While I was fascinated by Mr. Padgett's story, I struggled to finish the book. The writing is somewhat clinical. I found descriptions of his fascination with fractal geometry, numbers, and his newly-acquired synesthesia very compelling, but I was less interested in much of the rest. For example, his telling of his pre-assault life as a shallow, unfocused life-of-the-party-boy only takes one chapter, but it seemed to go on and on (and on...). I think I would have enjoyed his story more if the telling was more concise.
Put another way, this would have made a great chapter in an Oliver Sacks anthology.
While I was fascinated by Mr. Padgett's story, I struggled to finish the book. The writing is somewhat clinical. I found descriptions of his fascination with fractal geometry, numbers, and his newly-acquired synesthesia very compelling, but I was less interested in much of the rest. For example, his telling of his pre-assault life as a shallow, unfocused life-of-the-party-boy only takes one chapter, but it seemed to go on and on (and on...). I think I would have enjoyed his story more if the telling was more concise.
Put another way, this would have made a great chapter in an Oliver Sacks anthology.
ByW-R-Bookwormon July 30, 2014
I don’t doubt Jason Padgett’s claim that a brain injury could have transformed him into a mathematical genius. His story is fairly interesting and at times even inspiring, but unfortunately the author’s (Maureen Seaberg) superficial treatment of his account fails to convincingly demonstrate the full scope of his newly-acquired intellect. It is not enough to cite (repetitively) Padgett’s fascination with pi, or that he perceives the world in fractals (again, repetitively). His graphic representations of pi – and other concepts – reveals someone who is amazingly competent with a straight edge (and willing to put in some very long hours), but it does not necessarily prove genius. Nor does his epiphany -- that circles don’t really exist – signify anything groundbreaking in this age. It is certainly advanced math, but it is also concept taught in calculus 101.
There are other many instances in the book that miss the mark. Talking about the Doppler effect with store patrons shows Jason to be an intelligent person, but not necessarily a genius. And his discussions of God and free will were shallow at best. The author could have used better examples to showcase his brilliance, or at least flesh out his conversations to a greater degree. Instead, her dull, lifeless delivery turns what could have been a fascinating story into something with the sterility of a student’s book report. Much too often she simply tells what happened instead of showing; of putting us right in the scene to experience it ourselves. On page 108, e.g.: “There was a guy in one of my classes who clucked every time I (asked or answered a question in class), but I wasn’t going to let him get to me.” That was it. And much of the book reads like this.
Padgett mentions he posted some Youtube videos, where he discusses the mathematics behind his drawings. I think viewing these videos will probably provide a better insight than did the book as to how mentally gifted he may be.
There are other many instances in the book that miss the mark. Talking about the Doppler effect with store patrons shows Jason to be an intelligent person, but not necessarily a genius. And his discussions of God and free will were shallow at best. The author could have used better examples to showcase his brilliance, or at least flesh out his conversations to a greater degree. Instead, her dull, lifeless delivery turns what could have been a fascinating story into something with the sterility of a student’s book report. Much too often she simply tells what happened instead of showing; of putting us right in the scene to experience it ourselves. On page 108, e.g.: “There was a guy in one of my classes who clucked every time I (asked or answered a question in class), but I wasn’t going to let him get to me.” That was it. And much of the book reads like this.
Padgett mentions he posted some Youtube videos, where he discusses the mathematics behind his drawings. I think viewing these videos will probably provide a better insight than did the book as to how mentally gifted he may be.
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