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| Plot Summary of Driving Mr. Albert |
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"Author Paterniti drives Dr Thomas Harvey across the U.S. from New Jersey to California by way of Kansas and many strange and special stops in-between. These two are ferrying Albert Einstein's dissected brain parts in Tupperware containers stuffed in a duffel bag in the trunk of a rented Buick Skylark to be reunited with the genius' granddaughter, Evelyn Einstein. Mr. Paterniti's fascination with the man who held onto Einstein's brain for decades after the death of the world famous physicist led him to track Harvey down, finding him down on his luck, and contemplating a trip to CA. The author volunteers to drive the elderly Dr Harvey and the journey gets under way.
They pay a visit to many of Harvey's familiar places including a not-to-be-missed social call on former neighbor, eighty-three-year-old author William S. Burroughs, the still irreverent, still pot smoking, methadone addicted, beat generation writer living in Lawrence, KS. Other highlights of the trip are visits to the Garden of Eden, a bizarre cement statuary park built by crazy-as-a-loon S.P. Dinsmoor in Lucas, KS; the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library in Independence, MO; dinner with Harvey's third wife, Raye; cocktails with his ex-roommate Archie, Archie's mother, grandmother, and Ukrainian fiancée; and Los Alamos. This is not your typical buddy/road trip novel; part cross-country trip by car narrative, part bio of the father of relativity, autobiography of the author, completely off-the-wall tale, and a true story. "
David Fletcher, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Driving Mr. Albert |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Period of greatest activity?
- 1950+
Road trip
Yes
Subject of Biography
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- writer
Age:
- 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Ethnicity
- White
Nationality
- American (!)
How sensitive is this person?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other people
Physique
- average physique
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 9 ()
United States
Yes
The US:
- West
- Midwest
- California
Small town?
Yes
Small town people:
- nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee
Misc setting
- resort/hotel
- fort/military installation
- scientific labs
Century:
- 1980's-Present
Style
Person
- mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
Book makes you feel?
- very happy
Is book humorous?
Yes
If humorous, kind of humor
- eccentric personalities
- surreal
- metaphorical
Commentary on society?
Yes
Commentary on
- love/sex
- selfishness
- war
- dying
- religion
Unusual Style:
- a lot of flashback and forwards
Writer's slant towards subject:
- very favorable
Story of entire life, or part?
- story of set of events during life
Is this a biography of several people?
Yes
If this is a kid's book:
- Age 16-Adult
Autobiography?
Yes
How much dialogue in bio?
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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Click here for more information about this book
Michael Paterniti Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 David Fletcher
SCHOLARS:
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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