New Releases by Masha Gessen

WINNER OF THE 2017 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN NONFICTION FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARDS WINNER OF THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY''S HELEN BERNSTEIN BOOK AWARD NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2017 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, LOS ANGELES TIMES, WASHINGTON POST, BOSTON GLOBE, SEATTLE TIMES, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, NEWSWEEK, PASTE, and POP SUGAR The essential journalist and bestselling biographer of Vladimir Putin reveals how, in the space of a generation, Russia surrendered to a more virulent and invincible new strain of autocracy. Award-winning journalist Masha Gessen''s understanding of the events and forces that have wracked Russia in recent times is unparalleled. In The Future Is History, Gessen follows the lives of four people born at what promised to be the dawn of democracy. Each of them came of age with unprecedented expectations, some as the children and grandchildren of the very architects of the new Russia, each with newfound aspirations of their own--as entrepreneurs, activists, thinkers, and writers, sexual and social beings. Gessen charts their paths against the machinations of the regime that would crush them all, and against the war it waged on understanding itself, which ensured the unobstructed reemergence of the old Soviet order in the form of today''s terrifying and seemingly unstoppable mafia state. Powerful and urgent, The Future Is History is a cautionary tale for our time and for all time.

From the acclaimed author of The Man Without a Face, the previously untold story of the Jews in twentieth-century Russia that reveals the complex, strange, and heart-wrenching truth behind the familiar narrative that begins with pogroms and ends with emigration. In 1929, the Soviet government set aside a sparsely populated area in the Soviet Far East for settlement by Jews. The place was called Birobidzhan.The idea of an autonomous Jewish region was championed by Jewish Communists, Yiddishists, and intellectuals, who envisioned a haven of post-oppression Jewish culture. By the mid-1930s tens of thousands of Soviet Jews, as well as about a thousand Jews from abroad, had moved there. The state-building ended quickly, in the late 1930s, with arrests and purges instigated by Stalin. But after the Second World War, Birobidzhan received another influx of Jews—those who had been dispossessed by the war. In the late 1940s a second wave of arrests and imprisonments swept through the area, traumatizing Birobidzhan’s Jews into silence and effectively shutting down most of the Jewish cultural enterprises that had been created. Where the Jews Aren’t is a haunting account of the dream of Birobidzhan—and how it became the cracked and crooked mirror in which we can see the true story of the Jews in twentieth-century Russia. (Part of the Jewish Encounters series)

«Ο άνθρωπος δίχως πρόσωπο» είναι η ανατριχιαστική εξιστόρηση της διαδικασίας μέσα από την οποία ένας χαμηλόβαθμος πράκτορας της KGB αναρριχήθηκε στην προεδρία της Ρωσίας.Το 1999, η «Οικογένεια» που περιέβαλλε τον Μπορίς Γέλτσιν άρχισε να ψάχνει διάδοχο για τον ασθενούντα πρόεδρο, η δημοτικότητα του οποίου συνεχώς έφθινε. Ο Βλαντίμιρ Πούτιν, με ελάχιστη κυβερνητική και διοικητική εμπειρία πέρα από τη θητεία του ως αντιδημάρχου της Αγίας Πετρούπολης και ένα σύντομο διάστημα στη θέση του διευθυντή της μυστικής αστυνομίας, έμοιαζε ωστόσο η τέλεια λύση: ένα «απρόσωπο» πλάσμα που ο Γέλτσιν και οι στενοί του φίλοι πίστευαν πως μπορούσαν να διαμορφώσουν κατ’ εικόνα τους. Ξαφνικά το αγόρι που είχε μεγαλώσει στις σχολικές αυλές του μεταπολεμικού Λένινγκραντ παίζοντας ξύλο και κάνοντας όνειρα να κυβερνήσει τον κόσμο έγινε δημόσιο πρόσωπο και η δημοτικότητά του εκτοξεύτηκε στα ύψη. Η Ρωσία και μια ξελογιασμένη Δύση ήταν αποφασισμένες να βλέπουν τον προοδευτικό ηγέτη των ονείρων τους, ακόμα και όταν, με ανελέητη αποτελεσματικότητα, ο Πούτιν ξήλωνε τα μέσα ενημέρωσης της χώρας, αποσπούσε διά της βίας από την ανθούσα επιχειρηματική τάξη τον έλεγχο και τα πλούτη της και αποδεκάτιζε τους εύθραυστους μηχανισμούς της δημοκρατίας. Μέσα σε ελάχιστα χρόνια, ουσιαστικά κάθε εμπόδιο για την αχαλίνωτη κυριαρχία του απομακρύνθηκε και κάθε αντίθετη φωνή φιμώθηκε, με τους πολιτικούς αντιπάλους και τους επικριτές να οδηγούνται στην εξορία ή στον τάφο.Ως δημοσιογράφος που ζει στη Μόσχα, η Μάσα Γκέσεν βίωσε από πρώτο χέρι αυτή την ιστορία και για το βιβλίο της χρησιμοποίησε στοιχεία και πηγές που κανένας άλλος συγγραφέας δεν έχει αξιοποιήσει. Η εξιστόρηση του τρόπου με τον οποίο ένας «απρόσωπος» άνθρωπος ελίχτηκε για να φτάσει στην απόλυτη –και απόλυτα διεφθαρμένη– εξουσία διαθέτει όλα τα χαρακτηριστικά ενός κλασικού μη λογοτεχνικού πεζογραφήματος. Μια μοναδική βιογραφία, που κυκλοφορεί στα ελληνικά ταυτόχρονα με την πρωτότυπη αγγλική έκδοση. «Καθαρό και γενναίο...» James Meek, The Observer «Κάθε άνθρωπος που διαβάζει εφημερίδα θα ’πρεπε να διαβάσει το βιβλίο αυτό. Και θα το διαβάσει σαν το πιο δυνατό θρίλερ: ξέπνοος και ανήμπορος, δεν θα το αφήσει από τα χέρια του μέχρι το τελος».Berliner Zeitung «H Gessen μεταφέρει την ατμόσφαιρα καλύτερα από οποιονδήποτε». The Independent «Ένα συναρπαστικό και πλήρες πορτρέτο ενός ανθρώπου που, χωρίς να αφήσει ίχνη, έγινε από κατώτερος πράκτορας της KGB o “νονός της ρωσικής μαφίας”». The Telegraph Magazine

A riveting search for the roots of terrorism by the bestselling author of The Man Without a Face. The facts of the tragedy are established: on 15 April 2013, two homemade bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and wounding 264 others. The elder of the brothers implicated in the attack, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, died in the ensuing manhunt; Dzhokhar’s trial got underway in early 2015. What we don’t know is why. How did such a nightmare come to pass? Award-winning Russian journalist Masha Gessen draws on her unique insight and credentials to deliver a powerful story of dislocation, and the longing for clarity and identity that can reach the point of combustion. She reconstructs the struggle between assimilation and alienation that fuelled the Tsarnaev brothers’ apparent metamorphosis into a new breed of homegrown terrorist, with their feet planted on American soil but their loyalties elsewhere — a split identity that seems to have incubated a deadly sense of mission. PRAISE FOR MASHA GESSEN ‘Masha Gessen does something unexpected … In a book about Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and their role in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, she barely describes the crime … Still, if such an approach seems counterintuitive, that’s the power of this remarkable book’ The Los Angeles Times ‘This tale of immigrant ambition gone wrong is well told by the Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen … The backstory of family dysfunction and dislocation stretching back to Stalin makes this an important work on the psychology of sectarian violence.’ The Times Literary Supplement

National Book Award winner Masha Gessen tells an important story for our era: How the American Dream went wrong for two immigrants, and the nightmare that resulted. On April 15, 2013, two homemade bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston marathon, killing three people and wounding more than 264 others. In the ensuing manhunt, Tamerlan Tsarnaev died, and his younger brother, Dzhokhar, was captured and ultimately charged on thirty federal counts. Yet long after the bombings and the terror they sowed, after all the testimony and debate, what we still haven’t learned is why. Why did the American Dream go so wrong for two immigrants? How did such a nightmare come to pass? Acclaimed Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen is uniquely endowed with the background, access, and talents to tell the full story. An immigrant herself, who came to the Boston area with her family as a teenager, she returned to the former Soviet Union in her early twenties and covered firsthand the transformations that were wracking her homeland and its neighboring regions. It is there that the history of the Tsarnaev brothers truly begins, as descendants of ethnic Chechens deported to Central Asia in the Stalin era. Gessen follows the family in their futile attempts to make a life for themselves in one war-torn locale after another and then, as new émigrés, in the looking-glass, utterly disorienting world of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Most crucially, she reconstructs the struggle between assimilation and alienation that ensued for each of the brothers, incubating a deadly sense of mission. And she traces how such a split in identity can fuel the metamorphosis into a new breed of homegrown terrorist, with feet on American soil but sense of self elsewhere.

1999 yılında, Boris Yeltsin’in etrafını çevreleyen “Aile”, sağlığı kötüye giden ve gitgide popülaritesini kaybeden devlet başkanına bir halef aramaya koyuldu. Hükümet kademelerinde ya da idarede çok az tecrübesi olan Putin –geçmişte sadece St. Petersburg Belediye Başkan Yardımcılığı ve kısa süreliğine gizli polis direktörlüğü yapmıştı– yine de mükemmel bir seçenek olarak öne çıkıyordu: Yeltsin ve arkadaşlarının kendi suretlerinde yoğurabilecekleri “yüzü olmayan” bir canlı. Putin’e karasevdayla bağlanan Batı ve Rusya, çiçeği burnunda devlet başkanında rüyalarının ilerici liderini görmekte kararlıydı – hatta Putin o merhametsiz iş bitiriciliği ile ülkenin medyasını hallaç pamuğu gibi atar, işadamlarının elindeki güç ve zenginliği çekip alır ve demokrasinin kırılgan mekanizmalarını paramparça ederken bile… Birkaç yıl içerisinde, Putin’in sahip olmak istediği mutlak iktidarın önündeki her türlü engel kaldırılmış, muhalif sesler susturulmuş, siyasi rakipler ya sürgüne ya da mezara gönderilmişti. Bu tarihi dönemi ilk elden tecrübe etmiş bir gazeteci olan MashaGessen, hikâyeyi şu anki huzursuzluk ve belirsizlik dönemine kadar getirip önümüze koyuyor. Putin’in yükseliş ve iktidar dönemine dair büyüleyici anlatımı, bu alanda bir klasik olmaya aday.

Handpicked in 1999 by the ''Family'' surrounding an ailing and increasingly unpopular Boris Yeltsin, Vladimir Putin, with very little governmental or administrative experience beyond having served as deputy mayor of St Petersburg, seemed like the perfect choice in the eyes of an oligarchy bent on moulding the president''s successor to its own designs. Suddenly the boy who had scrapped his way through post-war Leningrad schoolyards, dreaming of ruling the world, was a public figure, and his popularity soared. Russia and an infatuated West were determined to see the progressive leader of their dreams, even as with ruthless efficiency Putin dismantled the country''s media, wrested control and wealth from the country''s burgeoning business class, and decimated the fragile mechanisms of democracy. Within a few brief years, virtually every obstacle to his unbridled control was removed and every opposing voice silenced, with political rivals and critics driven into exile or to the grave. As a journalist living in Moscow, Masha Gessen experienced this history firsthand, and for The Man Without a Face she has drawn on information and sources no other writer has tapped. Her horrifying and spellbinding account of how this ''faceless'' man manoeuvred his way into absolute - and absolutely corrupt - power will stand as a classic of narrative non-fiction.

För första gången berättas hela historien om Pussy Riot, punkgruppen som med ett häpnadsväckande mod gjorde uppror mot Putins Ryssland och kastade ljus över det ryska samhällets brist på demokratiska rättigheter. Den 21 februari 2012 i Kristus Frälsarens katedral i Moskva framförde fem unga kvinnor den nu historiska bönen om att frälsa det ryska folket från Vladimir Putin. Tre av dem fängslades och anklagades för huliganism. Den efterföljande rättegången blev en världshändelse och bevakades intensivt av internationell press. Kvinnorna dömdes till två års fängelse. Människor världen över, däribland celebriteter som Patti Smith, Paul McCartney och Madonna, har uttryckt sitt starka stöd för Pussy Riot. Masha Gessen skildrar i boken hur Pussy Riot kom till och vilket inflytande punkkollektivet har fått inte bara i Ryssland, utan i hela världen. Genom djuplodande intervjuer får vi en unik inblick i medlemmarnas liv. Det är en lika personlig som politisk berättelse om kreativitet, mod och aktivism i ett av världens mäktigaste länder.

From National Book Award winner Masha Gessen, the heroic story of Pussy Riot, who resurrected the power of truth in a society built on lies. On February 21, 2012, five young women entered the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. In neon-colored dresses, tights, and balaclavas, they performed a “punk prayer” beseeching the “Mother of God” to “get rid of Putin.” They were quickly shut down by security, and in the weeks and months that followed, three of the women were arrested and tried, and two were sentenced to a remote prison colony. But the incident captured international headlines, and footage of it went viral. People across the globe recognized not only a fierce act of political confrontation but also an inspired work of art that, in a time and place saturated with lies, found a new way to speak the truth. Masha Gessen’s riveting account tells how such a phenomenon came about. Drawing on her exclusive, extensive access to the members of Pussy Riot and their families and associates, she reconstructs the fascinating personal journeys that transformed a group of young women into artists with a shared vision, gave them the courage and imagination to express it unforgettably, and endowed them with the strength to endure the devastating loneliness and isolation that have been the price of their triumph.

Im Jahr 2000 wurde eine Liste mit sieben Rätseln der Mathematik veröffentlicht, mit einem Preisgeld von jeweils einer Million US-Dollar. Eines dieser berühmten »Millennium-Probleme« war der Beweis der Poincaré-Vermutung, an dem sich bereits die klügsten Köpfe die Zähne ausgebissen hatten. 2002 wurde der Beweis erbracht – von Grigori Jakowlewitsch »Grischa« Perelman, einem exzentrischen russisch-jüdischen Mathematiker. Aber Perelman lehnte ab – nicht nur das Geld, sondern zunehmend auch die Welt. Heute lebt er ohne Festanstellung und völlig zurückgezogen bei seiner Mutter in St. Petersburg. Warum war gerade er in der Lage, das Problem zu lösen – und was ist danach mit ihm geschehen? Masha Gessen begibt sich auf Perelmans Spuren, von seinen Anfängen als Wunderkind bis zu seinem Rückzug. Nach und nach entsteht das Bild eines Mannes, dessen fast übermenschliche gedankliche Strenge ihn zu mathematischen Höchstleistungen befähigt, aber auch immer stärker von der Welt entfremdet.

This book contains neither majestic city - or country-scapes nor blood-spattered depictions of violence. Monteleone rather shows us the otherwise invisible: the stifling atmosphere, the regnant helplessness and fear, the young women resigned to their fate and the elderly, whose traditional authority has diminished in the face of Kadyrov''s brutes. But Monteleone''s photographs also depict hope. Chechens are a mountain people who have endured wars and other atrocities for centuries, including the collective deportation to the arid Kazakh steppes and to Siberia under Stalin in 1944

Wladimir Putin hat mit Hilfe einer kleinen, aber mächtigen Gruppe des russischen Geheimdienstes KGB, alten kommunistischen Potentaten und neureichen Oligarchen eines der größten Länder der Erde in eine Diktatur zurückverwandelt. Masha Gessen entlarvt den unscheinbaren Mann ohne Gesicht als das, was er wirklich ist: ein skrupelloser Machthaber, umgeben von Korruption und Terror.

PUTIN MANDEN UDEN ANSIGT er historien om, hvordan en underordnet KGB-officer blev Ruslands præsident og forvandlede landet til en trussel mod egne indbyggere såvel som resten af verden. Mod slutningen af sin embedsperiode blev Boris Jeltsin svagere og stedse mere upopulær. "Familien" omkring ham håndplukkede Vladimir Putin som hans efterfølger. Putin syntes at være oligarkernes perfekte valg, en mand de kunne forme efter eget ønske. Drengen, der havde stået i skyggen og fantaseret om at herske over verden, trådte nu ind i magtens midte. Og alt imens Rusland og et forblændet Vesten så til, overtog han kontrollen med medierne, sendte politiske rivaler og kritikere i graven eller i eksil og knuste Ruslands skrøbelige demokrati. Pressen skriver: »Et fascinerende og mange-facetteret portræt ... meget elegant skrevet ( og nydeligt oversat) « – Niels Ivar Larsen, Information »Ny biografi beskriver overbevisende, hvordan sovjettiden lever videre i den russiske præsidents embedsførelse« ****– Jonas Hindsholm Bentzen, Børsen

National Book Award winner Masha Gessen''s biography of a ruthless man''s ascent to near-absolute power. “In a country where journalists critical of the government have a way of meeting untimely deaths, Gessen has shown remarkable courage in researching and writing this unflinching indictment of the most powerful man in Russia.” —The Wall Street Journal “Thanks to fearless reporting and acute psychological insights, Masha Gessen has done the impossible in writing a highly readable, compelling life of Russia''s mysterious president-for-life.” –Tina Brown, The Daily Beast The Man Without a Face is the chilling account of how a low-level, small-minded KGB operative ascended to the Russian presidency and, in an astonishingly short time, destroyed years of progress and made his country once more a threat to his own people and to the world. Handpicked as a successor by the "family" surrounding an ailing and increasingly unpopular Boris Yeltsin, Vladimir Putin seemed like a perfect choice for the oligarchy to shape according to its own designs. Suddenly the boy who had stood in the shadows, dreaming of ruling the world, was a public figure, and his popularity soared. Russia and an infatuated West were determined to see the progressive leader of their dreams, even as he seized control of media, sent political rivals and critics into exile or to the grave, and smashed the country''s fragile electoral system, concentrating power in the hands of his cronies. As a journalist living in Moscow, Masha Gessen experienced this history firsthand, and for The Man Without a Face has drawn on information and sources no other writer has tapped. This account of how a "faceless" man maneuvered his way into absolute—and absolutely corrupt—power is the definitive biography of Vladimir Putin.

Efter att ha kommit till makten som premiärminister och därefter president i Ryssland 1999 har Vladimir Putin gradvis utmanövrerat och eliminerat sina politiska rivaler. Han har nedmonterat landets sköra demokrati, inte minst genom sitt järnhårda grepp om medierna. Som verksam i Ryssland har den rysk-amerikanska journalisten Masha Gessen själv upplevt denna förändring och fått bevittna hur flera av hennes vänner och kolleger trakasserats och försvunnit under oklara omständigheter. Hon företräder den generation som satsade allt på frihetens och demokratins väg för Ryssland efter Sovjetunionens fall. I dag hör hon till dem som går i främsta ledet i demonstrationerna mot valfusk och vanstyre. Mannen utan ansikte är en sensationell, modig och upprörande berättelse om Putins väg till makten. Den ger en unik och initierad bild av en skrupelfri och manipulerande ledare för ett av världens största och mäktigaste länder. Ur bokens förord av Stig Fredrikson: "Masha Gessen beskriver Rysslands moderna historia inifrån. Hon är en journalist som varit med själv. Hon har upplevt och rapporterat om alla de viktigaste händelserna i Ryssland de senaste tjugo åren som korrespondent för amerikanska och ryska tidskrifter. Dessutom bygger boken på en omfattande och imponerande research. Den är ett stycke klassisk undersökande journalistik, och Masha Gessen har delvis haft tillgång till källor som inte har berättat tidigare. Det gör boken mer övertygande, och skrämmande. Att hon har fått vissa nyckelpersoner att ställa upp och framträda med namn, i stället för att citera anonyma källor, stärker i hög grad hennes framställning. Masha Gessen är medveten om att innehållet i boken är politisk dynamit. Hon vet också att hon i fortsättningen förmodligen riskerar sin personliga säkerhet. Spåren förskräcker. Av alla Putinböckerna i min bokhylla är det fram till nu en som har stuckit ut: den som Anna Politkovskaja skrev om "Putins Ryssland". Nu kommer Masha Gessens bok att stå bredvid Politkovskajas, med hopp om att hon inte ska behöva dela hennes öde."

In 2006, an eccentric Russian mathematician named Grigori Perelman solved one of the world''s greatest intellectual puzzles. The Poincare conjecture is an extremely complex topological problem that had eluded the best minds for over a century. In 2000, the Clay Institute in Boston named it one of seven great unsolved mathematical problems, and promised a million dollars to anyone who could find a solution. Perelman was awarded the prize this year - and declined the money. Journalist Masha Gessen was determined to find out why. Drawing on interviews with Perelman''s teachers, classmates, coaches, teammates, and colleagues in Russia and the US - and informed by her own background as a math whiz raised in Russia - she set out to uncover the nature of Perelman''s astonishing abilities. In telling his story, Masha Gessen has constructed a gripping and tragic tale that sheds rare light on the unique burden of genius.

A National Book Award winner’s personal journey through the ethical dilemmas and unsettling choices raised by the new frontier of DNA testing. Several years after Masha Gessen’s mother died of breast cancer, she discovered she too had the BRCA1 gene mutation, which predisposes women to high rates of ovarian and breast cancer. Her doctors gave her narrow options: surgical removal of her breasts and ovaries or living with the likelihood of one day developing cancer. As Gessen wrestled with her own health decisions, she sought more information about the implications of genetic testing from a variety of sources—ranging from others faced with her same dilemma to medical researchers, historians, and religious thinkers. With concerns both practical and philosophical, personal and societal, her inquiry led her across the globe, with stops in Israel, Russia, Austria, and the United States. Weaving her own story into her journalistic research, Gessen offers insight into how knowledge that was once unimaginable now shapes our lives. Blood Matters explores not only the decisions we must make in our physical and emotional health, but also the ethical choices we face when choosing spouses or having children. “Valuable reading to almost anyone facing a huge health decision, not only for the literary commiseration it offers, but also for the inspired example of medical sleuthing on one’s own behalf that it provides. Gessen keeps an inflammatory topic at room temperature, writing elegantly and without self pity.” —The New York Times Book Review

This is a story of 20th-century Russia through the lives of two extraordinary women.

The author examines "the ways in which intellectuals are finding an identity in the new Russia."--Cover.

Stát nás ochrání. Dokud nás nezačne ohrožovat. Když se v roce 2016 stal vítězem amerických prezidentských voleb Donald Trump, spousta Američanů i lidí po celém světě se uklidňovala odolností amerického systému a stabilitou jeho institucí. Do čela světové velmoci se možná dostal narcistní psychopat — demokracie však nestojí na osobnostech, nýbrž na pevném systému brzd a protivah, nezávislých úřadů a institucí s dlouhou a váženou tradicí, tradovalo se mezi západními novináři a komentátory. Jako jedna z mála kritizovala tento přístup Masha Gessen. Léta strávená v Rusku i psaním o vládě Vladimira Putina jí napovídala, že přerod demokracie v autokracii může být snazší a rychlejší, než by se mohlo zdát. Z jejího eseje „Autocracy: Rules for Survival“ (Autokracie: pravidla přežití) se proto krátce po Trumpově vítězství stal jeden z nejsdílenějších a nejcitovanějších článků. Kniha Přežít autokracii však není pouhým knižním rozpracováním původního eseje či další položkou v dlouhém výčtu Trumpových skandálů a překračování demokratických mantinelů. Gessen zasazuje zkušenosti s vládou a kroky Donalda Trumpa z posledních čtyř let do širšího politického rámce a srovnává je s podobným vývojem v Rusku či Maďarsku. Demokracie je křehčí, než se může zdát. ––– Když Gessen mluví o autokracii, tak raději poslouchejte. — The New York Times Když se v roce 2016 zjevil Trump […], mnozí z nás uklidňovali sami sebe i ostatní, že americké instituce jsou pevnější než kterýkoli kandidát, ba dokonce prezident. Avšak po volbách toto ujišťování vyznívalo naprázdno. Varovala jsem čtenáře: „Instituce vás neochrání.“ Vycházela jsem ze zkušeností při psaní reportáží o Rusku, Maďarsku a Izraeli — tří zemí, které se od Spojených států sice velmi liší, a zároveň je každá jiná. Nicméně jejich instituce se zhroutily nápadně podobným způsobem. Nemohla jsem tušit, jestli obdobně selžou rovněž ty americké, ale věděla jsem dost na to, abych mohla prohlásit, že absolutní víra v instituce není na místě. — Ukázka z knihy

Grigory Perelman, thiên tài toán học người Nga, người đầu tiên giải được một trong bảy bài toán Thiên niên kỷ của viện toán học Clay với giải thưởng lên đến một triệu dollar đã chối bỏ cả thế giới, rút vào sống trong sự im lặng và cô lập hoàn toàn sau thành công vang dội. Câu chuyện trong cuốn sách này là cuộc đời và sự nghiệp của ông, từ lúc bắt đầu bước chân vào toán học, bỏ qua những bộn bề của cuộc sống, chỉ sống với niềm đam mê toán học của mình, cho đến lúc quay lưng lại không chỉ với toán học mà với toàn thế giới.