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Sylvia Nasar
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A Beautiful Mind Paperback – July 12, 2011

by Sylvia Nasar (Author)
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**Also an Academy Award–winning film starring Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly—directed by Ron Howard**

The powerful, dramatic biography of math genius John Nash, who overcame serious mental illness and schizophrenia to win the Nobel Prize.

“How could you, a mathematician, believe that extraterrestrials were sending you messages?” the visitor from Harvard asked the West Virginian with the movie-star looks and Olympian manner. “Because the ideas I had about supernatural beings came to me the same way my mathematical ideas did,” came the answer. “So I took them seriously.”

Thus begins the true story of John Nash, the mathematical genius who was a legend by age thirty when he slipped into madness, and who—thanks to the selflessness of a beautiful woman and the loyalty of the mathematics community—emerged after decades of ghostlike existence to win a Nobel Prize for triggering the game theory revolution. The inspiration for an Academy Award–winning movie, Sylvia Nasar’s now-classic biography is a drama about the mystery of the human mind, triumph over adversity, and the healing power of love.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    464 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    July 12, 2011
  4. Dimensions
    6.13 x 1.2 x 9.25 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    1451628420
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1451628425
  7. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Boston Globe" Superbly written and eminently fascinating.

"The New York Times" Reads like a fine novel.

Oliver Sacks Deeply interesting and extraordinarily moving.

About the Author

Sylvia Nasar is the author of the bestselling A Beautiful Mind, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for biography. She is the John S. and James. L Knight Professor at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster; Reprint edition (July 12, 2011)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 464 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1451628420
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1451628425
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.13 x 1.2 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:

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Sylvia Nasar

Sylvia Nasar

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4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
1,137 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful examination of a beautiful mind
Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2002
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I bought this book because I saw the movie and was both deeply moved by it and intrigued by John Nash's life. During the entire first part of the book, I was somewhat lost because I couldn't match what was going on in the book to what I had just seen in the movie. The movie, it turns out, does not in any real way reflect the true life of John Forbes Nash, and anyone who really wants to know what his struggle was like should read this book. As much as I loved it, I want to warn people that it wasn't what I was expecting. One reviewer said that it "read like a fine novel," but I did not find that to be the case. Ms. Nasar is indeed a fine writer, but don't buy this book if you're looking for fiction. Trust me; I have a degree in English. See the movie instead. This book reflects the stuff of life, and it's complicated. But, as with most things complicated, it's well worth the struggle. Not only was I entertained and enriched by the subject matter, I actually learned a great deal. The movie made it seem as if John Nash wandered around Princeton waiting for his "original thought" to pop into his head, and that once it arrived, he was finished. In reality, John Nash wrote some very important papers during his early years at school, and his game theory was only one of dozens of major contributions he made to the mathematical community during his life. More surprisingly, some of his contributions came during the frenzy of his illness. The movie also depicted John Nash as a fairly charming man, when the truth is that he was quite immature, selfish and downright cruel in most respects. The good news is that the author doesn't try to gloss over or distort the facts in order to build John Nash into some kind of hero. There is no need, because his story is heroic without any hype or distortion. He overcome great tragedy, from his jaded childhood to an unbelievably debilitating mental illness, and became a loving, patient and dedicated parent to his schizophrenic son. Was John Nash a nice person? Most decidedly not. But I find that many extraordinary people, be they scientists, artists, scholars, actors, and the like, lack many of the social skills that us mere "normal" mortals cling to. And I, for one, truly admire Mr. Nash and feel fortunate to have had such an in-depth, comprehensive glimpse into his life. In the end, my only criticism of the book is that it was difficult to follow the timeline and keep track of the people in Nash's life. The author frequently skipped ahead in time and then back to the present, and she recalled characters with no reminder of who they were after not having mentioned them for hundreds of pages. A timeline in the front of the book with names of Nash's colleagues and brief summaries of their connection to him would have been very helpful. Bottom line: A MUST READ -- very few of us will understand everything, but I believe ALL of us will learn something AND feel good about it.
16 people found this helpful
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Christopher Nelson
4.0 out of 5 stars A Curious Life, A Good Movie, and Sexy Mathematics
Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2004
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Like many others I only came to this biography through the 2001 Ron Howard movie starring Russell Crowe. Having had no clue about John Nash, let alone much about the whole "mathematical community" I was very interested after seeing the movie. I guess what captured my attention most was: 1.) the tragic nature of Nash's personal struggles with schizophrenia, 2.) his genius, and 3.) the fact that most people had never heard of him (or his influence) before. Thus, the fact that Sylvia Nasar chose to write a biography about "some boring" mathematician (and mathematical society, namely Princeton's) was a bold, and much needed thing for the general public. I've read a little about such geniuses as Albert Einstein, Bertrand Russell, and Alfred North Whitehead, but in general, anything to do with science or math just turns me cold. So, even though the movie took sensational liberties, it did help to make math sexy, and attractive for the public again. So, it was now or never for me, and I bought the biography hoping to learn more, not only about Nash, but about mathematics.
On the one hand, Nash's personal life was a lot more captivating than that which the movie portrayed. While the movie simplified and dramatized certain events in his life to the nth degree, such as his "mysterious non-existent roommate", or his high-drama encounters with the "government agents", the chronology was off, and there are many real events from his life that the reader of this biography will find even more interesting and pertinent. Unfortunately, the real Nash is not as sexy as the movie portrays, and he must have been a real jerk to be around at times (he was not only a cruel child, and indifferent friend, but a cruel husband as well, leaving his first wife to the dogs). My main issue with Nasar's writing is that I didn't come away satisfied that his actual work was explained very thoroughly. The wider influence, and importance of his work (as well as other mathematicians mentioned) was too vague (i.e. after reading the biography, I couldn't tell you in great detail why Nash was great, or what his work has done to change anyone's life). Perhaps, like some of the single star reviewers out there, I'm being too harsh in my criticism of Nasar as a writer, but even though I think she portrayed his personality, and the nature of schizophrenia extremely well, she didn't seem to understand the mathematical side of things as well as she probably should have to make this a "classic" biography.
Nevertheless, the lack of mathematics and game theory detail is probably a good thing in that it's lead me to seek out more serious overviews on mathematics, including one called: "The Essential John Nash", edited by Ms. Nasar and Harold Kuhn, 2002. This concise summation of his work is accessible to non-math types, and highly recommended for those more interested in Nash's work than his personal life. It's possible that you will find this compendium of his work to contain everything the biography is missing, and so, both books together probably create the most complete portrait of this "beautiful mind" available to the general public.
12 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Soeur Anthony
5.0 out of 5 stars Un livre génial
Reviewed in France on August 16, 2023
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Je recommande la lecture de « beautiful mind ». Bien que le livre soit en anglais, si vous aimez les esprits intelligents et la maladie mentale, vous serez ravis. Le livre est moins romancé que le film. Les deux sont à voir.
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Sawai Singh Charan
5.0 out of 5 stars Very nice book
Reviewed in India on October 28, 2022
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I like this book because this book change my mind for any disablety
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Angela M.
5.0 out of 5 stars Ready For More.. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Reviewed in Canada on July 19, 2017
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I really loved the movie with Russell Crow. That was why I ended up buying the book. There's so,so much info in the book that I would purchase another edition one day if one was created as a kind of "Dictionary" for the many terms used, as well as layman terms of the mathematical & scientifical theories mentioned thru out it's pages. I would really enjoy to understand EVEN MORE the story behind "A BEAUTIFUL MIND"
I'd give it 10 stars if I could!
2 people found this helpful
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Turnaround
5.0 out of 5 stars Geniales Buch
Reviewed in Germany on October 23, 2014
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Da ich schon gelesen hatte, dass die deutsche Übersetzung nicht ganz dem Original gleichkommt, las ich das englische Original. Ich habe es nicht bereut. Die Sprache ist niveauvoll aber nicht unverständlich für einen durchschnittlichen Englisch-LK-ler.
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M Knight
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellently executed account - don't bother with the film
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 29, 2013
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As an economist, I was eager to get stuck into a biography of John Nash and it was a pleasant surprise that there was a nice balance between the more technical details of Nash's work and the biographical detailsof his life, relationships and descent and remission from schizophrenia. Admittedly, it does take a short while to get goind, exploring Nash's parents' backgrounds and his early life, but it's all for a reason.

Nasar does presuppose a limited understanding of mathmatics, and some of the more abstract concepts may have been somewhat lost on me, but that didn't deter me int he slightest. The comprehensive referencing that Naser provides is reassuring that the account will be broadly accurate.

I didn't find the writing unduly flattering to Nash's achievements and indeed, ragarding his personal life it did seem to take a "warts and all" approach, giving the subject the objective respect it undoubtedly deserves. Needless to say, the biography did shed a great deal of light on the enigmatic character that is Nash, and I have re-read the book and have no doubt that I will again in the future.

As for comparisons against the film - I am a big fan of the motion-picture inspired by this biography, but rest assured that it isn't an accurate account of Nash's life and work, merely an entertaining fictionalisation of it.
6 people found this helpful
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