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The Visiting Professor: A Novel of Chaos Hardcover – May 18, 2006

by Robert Littell (Author)

11 customer reviews

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In one of his most original novels, Littell explores the relationships between randomness and God, chaos and sex, a butterfly tattoo and occasional rain, the going and the getting there.

Lemuel Falk, a Russian theoretical chaoticist on the lam from terrestrial chaos, has been applying for permission to leave Russia every year for the past twenty-three years. Because he knows state secrets, he has not been allowed to cross the state s frontiers. Now, suddenly, his request for an exit visa is approved a sure sign that the situation is even more chaotic than he had imagined. Falk accepts a chair as a visiting professor at the Institute for Advanced Interdisciplinary Chaos-Related Studies in upstate New York. Arriving in the Promised Land under the impression that the streets are paved with Sony Walkmans, he plunges into the heart of another kind of chaos. No sooner has he arrived than he sets off on an academic cat fight, falls in love with a hairdresser half his age, and becomes a self-styled gumshoe tracking a serial killer.

The Visiting Professor: A Novel of Chaos

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Forsaking his customary thriller territory, Littell ( The Revolutionist ) here finds fertile new ground in the farther reaches of mathematics, which prove a wellspring of rich and consistently surprising comedy. When Lemuel Falk, a Russian "theoretical chaoticist on the lam from terrestrial chaos," arrives to take up his visiting fellowship at Backwater University, he is immediately confronted by a blizzard of Americana: is it absolute confusion or, as Lemuel suspects, merely "fool's randomness"--the facade of disorder behind which lurks a pure meaning? Many turn to him for the answer: a dope-smoking Orthodox rabbi seeking "the chaos at the heart of the heart of the Torah," a libidinous female barber named Occasional Rain, and a multinational throng of spooks and spies all seeking to use Lemuel's mathematical genius for their encryption programs. A not-quite-innocent abroad fleeing Stalinist ghosts, the professor quests across the spiraling chaos of the American landscape, becoming in succession or in combination a lover, theologian, political protestor, media celebrity, homicide investigator and, finally, a refugee in the deceptively tranquil aisles of the local E-Z Mart. Littell's fast-paced satire is by turns bawdy, cerebral and touching.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

When Lemuel Falk first arrives from the Soviet Union to take up a visiting professorship at the Institute for Advanced Interdisciplinary Chaos-Related Studies in upstate New York, he expects to discover a land where streets are paved with Sony Walkmans. Instead, he encounters a beautiful female barber who cadges luxury items from the grocery store, state troopers protecting the construction of a nuclear waste dump, and a serial murderer whose victims show absolutely no connection with each other. Drawn in to these issues--at first helplessly and then with more determination--the beleaguered Russian is able at last to confront and deal with his own past. Quirky characters and linguistic byplay insure the book's appeal to sophisticated readers. Littell is the author of An Agent in Place (Bantam, 1991) . -- Cynthia Johnson, Cary Memorial Lib., Lexington, Mass.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product details

Hardcover: 226 pages
Publisher: The Overlook Press; First Edition edition (May 18, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1585678163
ISBN-13: 978-1585678167
Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 1 x 9.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 11 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,634,969 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #14417 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Humor & Satire > Humorous
- #96733 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery
- #111622 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers & Suspense

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ByHarroon March 19, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

As usual, Mr. Littell's works are a joy to read. What a wonderful satire of backwater colleges and the various agencies' bumping efforts "to keep America safe" ...

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Too much sexual content. It overrides the essential message.

ByMaria Susana Straudon September 15, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Very different from the other Littell books in that the story was obstructed by the heavy sexual content. Because of this content the uniqueness of his usual endings gets obscured.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

ByMartina A. Nicollson July 26, 2015

Format: Hardcover

The Visiting Professor is set in New York post-Cold War between America and Russia. The protagonist, Lemuel Falk, is a Russian theoretical chaoticist – the world’s pre-eminent randomnist.

The last thing Lemuel expected when he applied for an exit visa from Russia was to get one. He had been applying for 23 years. On his 24th attempt he was on his way to the Institute for Advanced Interdisciplinary Chaos-Related Studies in New York. Almost the entire faculty welcomed his first step on American soil, including the director J. Alfred Goodacre, Ms. D.J. Starbuck who teaches Russian literature, Sebastian Skarr the astro-physicist researching cosmic arrhythmias, Charlie Atwater the surface tension expert, Matilda Birtwhistle who is cultivating chaos-related snow flakes, and Rebbe Asher ben Nachman – just called The Rebbe – the Gnostic chaoticist.

Lemuel hadn’t told his ex-wife, nor his daughter, that he was leaving for a semester. He only told his part-time lover, Axinya Petrovana. With limited English and only his father’s Royal Canadian Air Force Exercise Manual to study the language, he is a stranger in a strange land.

In the E-Z supermarket he meets a young girl shoplifting a tin of sardines. She is a 23-year-old hairdresser and student of Russian literature, half his age. Her name is Occasional Rain Morgan – otherwise known as Rain. They become lovers and he moves into her apartment.

Lemuel’s obsession with chaos and randomness results in a new order for the E-Z supermarket. He also causes the faculty to appear in court on a trespass charge when he lies down to stop bulldozers from working in a nuclear-garbage dump. His Russian lover Axinya, a journalist, arrives in New York to interview ‘the crazy Russian’ who was almost arrested for protesting against nuclear waste dumping. Axinya meets Rain. Axinya just wants Lemuel to go back home.

Fast Freddie and Frank hold him up, with pistols, demanding his knowledge so that they can get rich. And the authorities seek Lemuel’s help to solve a serial killer case. Are the killings really chaos related, as Lemuel suspects? Will the elusive threads of the killer’s random clues lead Lemuel to the chaotic origin of the crime?

Written in the third person, there are also passages in the first person – by Lemuel and by Rain. These asides aim to add depth of understanding to the characters – their inner feelings, especially about each other – but they often only serve to fragment the text. Witty and funny, The Visiting Professor is also off-beat, entertaining, and strange – and a bit chaotic.

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very funny. It eventually involves visits from US

ByJohn L. Seymouron October 13, 2014

Format: Kindle Edition

This is a little unlike other Littell books I have read mostly dealing with espionage. It is very different, involving a visiting professor of Chaos from Russia at an advanced educational institute somewhere in New York State. It is in places very, very funny. It eventually involves visits from US, Russian, Syrian and Israeli intelligence each of which offers the professor escalating amounts of dough to work for them. It pokes fun at the intelligence orgs and the FBI. He meets a young coed who is involved in "scoring" (i.e. stealing) food from a grocery store because she knows that the prices are increased to account for her stealing and she feels a responsibility to support their prices. That meeting eventually turns onto an affair. Initially he rooms with a Rabbi from Brooklyn who is at the Institute. Littell's ear for the Brooklyn Jewish idiom is wonderful. It is a light hearted, funny read, but in the first third of the book I wondered "where on earth is this going". I'm glad I read it.

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a master wordsmith

ByMom of 3on February 21, 2009

Format: Hardcover

I adored this book. My only concern was my fear that I would laugh out loud while reading it during a delay at LaGuardia. I found the characters fascinating, the professor's observations/internal monologue delightful, and the story line engaging. If you are looking for witty and humorous observations about life from a different perspective - all mixed with a bit of romance and "whodunit" - this book is for you. If it is hard-core action/suspense you seek, you'd be better served by some of Mr. Littell's other books. In hindsight, this book may have been better received had he penned it under a female pseudonym. I loved the book and it is receiving rave reviews from my friends as well. How about another one like this for the gals, Mr Littell??

0Comment 5 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

ByAgainst the Windon December 8, 2010

Format: Hardcover

I have enjoyed Littell's other books, 'Sisters', "The Debriefing', etc. This book however I found to be to disjointed and I will admit I did not find it interesting or entertaining. I realize this is not a spy novel or thriller, but I was hoping for some intrigue that this book never seems to create.

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A Complete Waste Of Time

ByJoseph L. Burkeon November 21, 2006

Format: Hardcover

I want at least one character in a novel that would interest me in real life. There are none in this book. Failing that, I'd like a plot with some substance. Uh-uh. As a reader I will plow through a pile of manure to find the poverbial pony; something of substance. A theme, a pace, a gift for language, or whatever. Not in this novel, friends. The professor from Russia finds problems with American colloquialisms: "Wearing your heart on your sleeve" - "Getting down to brass tacks" - etc. This is humorous? The prof also discovers sex; oral, group, swapping partners, etc. Sex itself is a victim of this author's depictions. The professor also solves a mystery of who is a serial killer; that part of the book is so improbable that it is not only unfunny, it is pitable. To sum up: this story is as weighty as a soap bubble but nowhere near as pretty. Don't waste your time.

0Comment 8 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Where does the core conspiracy lie?

ByAngharad de Johnstoneon April 2, 2007

Format: Hardcover

I read this book over a decade ago, and the story has always stayed with me. I was pleased to see that it is still in print. The concept that caught, and held my interest, is the notion of understanding where the core conspiracy lies in each of our lives, and in our relationships. You'll have to read the book to understand, but I think it's worth it.

0Comment 3 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Most recent customer reviews

A barrel of laughs and some genuine tears of joy.

Fascinating, A work of outrageous humor, intellectual puzzles, a tricky plot, quirky characters, and, ultimately, a very moving spiritual and human message.Read more

Published on August 9, 2014 by Dr. Anthony O. Edmonds

One of Littell's lesser works. Too much effort at humor, too little on plot. Reverts to sex scenes when short on thoughts. Otherwise, passable.

Published on July 23, 2007 by P. Schott

I really like this book

I read the Company a few years ago and loved it. I thought this book was going to be a similar historical/spy/thriller novel.Read more

Published on August 6, 2006 by emanator

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