1. Mead is considered a “genius” by almost everyone he knows, but he has mixed feelings about the title. Why? How has being labeled a genius shaped Mead’s character?

2. What is the six-legged creature and what role does it play in Mead’s life?

3. Early in the novel, Mead’s uncle Martin accuses Mead of being an “an overeducated, underachieving momma’s boy with no care or concern for anyone.” Why is Martin so angry at Mead? Do you think he is being too hard on Mead?

4. Describe Mead’s relationship with Percy. How is this relationship different from others in Mead’s life? How does Percy influence Mead?

5. Mead’s mother says to Mead: “You and I aren’t like your father and his whole side of the family. We’re cut from a different cloth. I want you to have the educational opportunities I never had. To fulfill your true potential.” Does Mead’s mother have Mead’s best interests in mind? Is she a supportive and loving mother? How is she different from Mead’s Aunt Jewel?

6. Why does Mead resist working for his father’s company, Fegley Brothers? Does his attitude towards his father and his business change over the course of the novel?

7. Why does Mead return home only days before his graduation from college? Do you think Mead is a coward for doing so? Did he have any other options?

8. What do Mead’s romantic failures with Cynthia and then with Shirley teach him? How is his friendship with Haley different from his other relationships with girls?

9. What do you make of Herman? Do you feel any sympathy for him? How are Mead and Herman alike and how are they different?

10. Who is Dr. Alexander and what does he teach Mead over the course of their work together? How is Dr. Alexander different from Dean Falconia and Dr. Kustrup?

11. Toward the end of the novel, the deceased Bernard Reimann appears to Mead and tells him that in order to solve the Riemann Hypothesis he must “stop being logical…and rely more on [his] intuitions.” What does Riemann mean by this? Does Mead take his advice?

12. Do you like Mead? Do you think he changes over the course of the novel? Why or why not?

13. Why is Mead’s mother so impressed with Herman when she first meets him in Chicago? How does Herman manipulate Mead and what makes him such a seductive personality?

14. Towards the end of the novel, Mead tells his father: “Ancient Egyptians thought the heart to be the seat of intelligence and will. Not the brain, but the heart.” Do you agree? Why does Mead tell his father this?

15. What do you make of the novel’s ending? Would you have made the same decision as Mead if you were in his position?