From the shelves of co-grandma Mimi Miller, who died in February 2020.

I read this before I registered it here, and now I remember less of it than I would like. I liked it but with reservations.

The author writes about his grandfather, Alexander Gerschenkron. Gerschendron was a confident, intelligent professor at Harvard, who had words with John Kenneth Galbraith and others with whom he disagreed. Called "the Great Gerschenkron", he was a legendary economist who was master of at least twenty languages.

The Great started his career by escaping - from Russia and then Germany - and doing so dramatically. It seems that drama was one part of him that he never gave up, as he had given up newspapers (took away from time reading books) and anything else that affected his scholarly ways.

He was also known as king of one-up-manship. He always had to go one better than someone else. It was not faked; he had the credentials every day. I think sometimes of my own father, who was considered a genius (in architecture) and who was a narcissist. My father had the goods too.

This is a beautifully written book that reveals much about a complex man, most importantly his insides. Incidentally, it also serves as another example of what we lose when we refuse entrance to immigrants.

Reserved for nonfiction sweepstakes.

Sent to the winner of the nonfiction sweepstakes, round 16, through the RABCK forum. Thank you, estelle1806, for hosting it.

Recieved today, with another book.
https://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/12549034
Thanks

Released while heading home