I wanted to like this book a whole lot more than I did. It was just okay. Very informative; kind of dull. I feel like a big jerk saying I liked the movie better, but I liked the movie better. I know this is an unfair comparison because the movie takes just a portion of the information in here and dramatizes it, but it’s the best bit, and the compelling narrative and much easier to follow cast of characters just makes for better story.
Yes, I know this isn’t a story. But I think more non-fiction books should embrace the conventions of narrative, solely for readability purposes. This book really could have used some of it. There were SO MANY women to follow in here, but we kept jumping away from them and meeting more, before eventually circling back and I’d forgotten who was who. Also, the narrative starts much sooner than the 1960s, and that’s what I wanted from it. It wasn’t a coincidence that was the strongest and most interesting part of the book.
There was a lot of good information in here that I wish I had latched onto more strongly in terms of emotion, but I didn’t. I would definitely still recommend reading this because of what you learn about Black women and mathematics, and their role in a lot of major developments, just don’t go into it looking for a strong narrative or strong central people to follow and you will probably get more out of it than I did.
Read Harder Challenge 2022: Read a book whose movie or TV adaptation you’ve seen (but haven’t read the book).