My brain was famous, but I was not. Not every gifted child invents a pollutant-free fuel, paints a masterpiece, or finds the cure for cancer,” Jack MacLeod tells us. “Some of us just live out our lives.” Jack died in 1974; now, he’s ready to narrate his story from beyond the grave. Jack’s prodigious memory, which allows him to memorize books, and his penchant for psychic connections give him unusual insights into the events of his past life and make him fiercely curious about his current state of existence. Jack immerses us in interconnected tales of his childhood participation in a research study on the intellectually gifted, his dual career as a clinical psychologist and university professor, his participation in the unmasking of an unscrupulous colleague, his long-term health issues, his brief but life-changing love affair with a student, his deep friendship with another man, and his eventual acceptance and celebration of the circumstances of his fate. How Jack dies, and how he deals with the murder of someone close to him, mirrors how he has lived and grown, and marks the significance of everyone and everything that ultimately brings him to yet another level of brilliance. Fantastic read

Not sure how to describe this. Jack is a professor with a brain tumor, slowly dying and losing vision along the way. Actually, he is already dead and telling the story of his life and death, his relationship with Eliza, his rivalry with the head of his department, his friendship with Don, connecting all of the stories, somewhat out of order, leading up to his death. I mostly liked the plot, especially the wonderful friendship between Jack and Don, and the writing was very nicely done, but somehow I still didn't love it. 3 stars.

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐮 𝐨𝐟 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞.

Jack Tilford MacLeod, ordinary genius, died in 1974 but it won’t keep him from spinning the story of his life to the reader from beyond the grave. Despite his beginnings as a subject in a university study for gifted children , and his impeccable memorization skills, his brain is the only famous aspect of his being. He would never cure diseases, create masterpieces nor go down in history but simply live his little life. A life filled with deception, genius, love, heartache, loneliness, connections, magical thinking, hope and rebirth. What is a life but a journey full of expanding and shrinking? Jack becomes a clinical psychologist and professor, as well as a disappointment to his ambitious wife, who foresaw greatness in their future together when their love was fresh, young. Their marriage sours, as marriages often do when partners no longer fulfill expectations, creating a ‘bumpy family life’ for his sons. There is Sarah, a troubled woman who makes strange decisions, someone he shares intimacy with and doesn’t quite comprehend. We read about the strains in Jack’s marriage, and his wife’s admiration for his vile colleague, one who must be stopped, but how to outwit a schemer of the highest order? A common enemy can be a lovely bond and the dream of exposing Dr. Mussell’s sordid past is the beginning of a beautiful friendship for Jack and a man named Don. It’s not an obsession, his constant thoughts turning to the devil, but “necessity”. Where will the scandal lead? What happens when illness is of far greater importance than revenge?

Love arrives at the most inconvenient of times but does Jack really know those he feels immediate connections with? Are his student Eliza and he truly connected in some magical manner? Are the coincidences they share as meaningful as they both think? Jack has always fed his hopes! No one holds his heart as tightly as Eliza, but his illness can’t be ignored (despite hiding it) and fate’s sense of humor is often biting. Will they ever consummate their love? Who could have possibly known that his beautiful brain would have it’s own benign (such a deceptive word) little ticking time bomb? As he is coming to the end of his own story, someone dear to him is struggling greatly with a hostile situation. There is no amount of should haves and could haves that can change the outcome of a life, hindsight often affords us clarity, but alters nothing. Jack is born, lives through dramas and departs capturing everything he has learned. Is he wiser?

Love, betrayal, deception, connections, murder, illness…. it’s a simple life. A story of reflection.

Publication Date: October 5, 2021

She Writes Press

Sadly this book wasn’t for me.
To begin with I thought it was a non fiction book about famous smart people or intellectuals, but it’s a fiction, which isn’t a negative but not what I was expecting.
Unfortunately it didn’t grab me. There was nothing wrong with it specifically that I can say is bad, but I found it a bit confusing, not knowing which point of view or time period we are at, or who the main character is talking about, and I’m not even sure where the story is going.
I don’t like not finishing gifted books but I stopped about half way as I felt if it hadn’t grabbed me by then, it probably wasn’t going to. I’ve only read one review of this book so far which was a five star, so it’s clearly not a bad book, just not to my taste.