July 22, 2013
“I’m often asked what it’s like to be married to a genius.” So begins The Mind-Body Problem, a trenchant, funny, very wise novel about life and love in academia — and the conflicting demands of sensuality and spirit in the lives of all of us — that adds up to one of the most delicious and though-provoking new reading experiences in a long time.
When Renee Feuer goes to college, one of the first lessons she tries to learn is how to liberate herself from the restrictions of her orthodox Jewish background. As she discovers the pleasures of the body, Renee also learns about the excitements of the mind. She enrolls as a philosophy graduate student, then marries Noam Himmel, the world-renowned mathematician. But Renee discovers that being married to a genius is a less elevating experience than expected. The story of her quest for a solution to the mind-body problem, a quest that involves the prickly contemporary dilemmas of sex and love, of doubt and belief, is a hilarious, touching, and always engrossing adventure. Rebecca Goldstein has written a delightfully entertaining and resonant book — a prodigious debut by an original and exciting writer.