Liz Ziemska was born in Poland, attended kindergarten in Sweden, and came to America at the age of 7. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from UCLA, and an MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars. She worked as a literary agent for many years, first in New York, then in Los Angeles. Her fiction has appeared in Tin House, Interfictions: 2, Strange Horizons, Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2016, The Pushcart Prize XLI, and has been nominated for a Shirley Jackson Award. She lives in Los Angeles.
Mandelbrot the Magnificent by Liz Ziemska
Prior to reading this novella, what I knew about the mathematician Benoît Mandelbrot would have fit into an embarrassingly small thimble (with plenty of room to spare). I identified fractal shapes simply as “tessellations on steroids” and my only reference point for a “mandelbrot” was a delicious cookie.
But thanks to Liz Ziemska, I have a much greater appreciation for Mandelbrot’s work in his field, as well as the passion and determination that sustained him through his years in Nazi-occupied France.
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Pretty challenging book. Cut by half, speed up the cadence. Trying to figure out the plot, the main point of…
Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!
Wonderful review, Sandy.
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…
Detailed, thoughtful review, Bill. I'm going to read it for two reasons. First, Karen Russell wrote it, and second, it…