A little gossip, a little explanation of physics theory. ( )

The book seems to be more about the author than it is about Feynman, though there is quite a bit about their interaction. I read 37% and lost interest.

A wonderful look inside the academic hallways of the upper echelons of physics. Mlodinow was talented but insecure and directionless when he landed a career job at Cal Tech. He had the chutzpah to impose himself on a reluctant Feynman and collect some of Feynman's personal wisdom, earned in success, loss, grief, and a fatal disease.

The gleanings of wisdom are worth the read. I am equally inspired by Mlodinov's parallel careers of both physics and writing. The world needs more of that. Chet Raymo comes to mind.

I think I will go read, and re-read some Raymo. ( )

A wonderful look inside the academic hallways of the upper echelons of physics. Mlodinow was talented but insecure and directionless when he landed a career job at Cal Tech. He had the chutzpah to impose himself on a reluctant Feynman and collect some of Feynman's personal wisdom, earned in success, loss, grief, and a fatal disease.

The gleanings of wisdom are worth the read. I am equally inspired by Mlodinov's parallel careers of both physics and writing. The world needs more of that. Chet Raymo comes to mind.

I think I will go read, and re-read some Raymo. ( )

4 1/2 stars, because it's really too short.
A coworker once recommended Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman. I read it and I loved it. I also read QED: Quantum Electrodymanics, by Feynman. Finally, and on a whim, I read Subliminal, by Leonard Mlodinow. It was 3 for 3.

So I knew this would also be a winner. And it was.

A short memoir about Mlodinow's year as a post-doc fellow at California Institute of Technology, with transcripts from some key conversations he had with Feynman.

I will no doubt be reading this one again. I marked several pages to quote, for the way the author has with words. ( )