A Doubter's Almanac

In this mesmerizing novel, Ethan Canin, the New York Times bestselling author ofAmerica America and The Palace Thief, explores the nature of genius, rivalry, ambition, and love among multiple generations of a gifted family.

Milo Andret is born with an unusual mind. A lonely child growing up in the woods of northern Michigan in the 1950s, he gives little thought to his own talent. But with his acceptance at U.C. Berkeley he realizes the extent, and the risks, of his singular gifts. California in the seventies is a seduction, opening Milo’s eyes to the allure of both ambition and indulgence. The research he begins there will make him a legend; the woman he meets there—and the rival he meets alongside her—will haunt him for the rest of his life. For Milo’s brilliance is entwined with a dark need that soon grows to threaten his work, his family, even his existence.

Spanning seven decades as it moves from California to Princeton to the Midwest to New York,A Doubter’s Almanac tells the story of a family as it explores the way ambition lives alongside destructiveness, obsession alongside torment, love alongside grief. It is a story of how the flame of genius both lights and scorches every generation it touches. Graced by stunning prose and brilliant storytelling, A Doubter’s Almanac is a surprising, suspenseful, and deeply moving novel, a major work by a writer who has been hailed as “the most mature and accomplished novelist of his generation.”

Advance praise for A Doubter’s Almanac

“A masterful writer at his transcendent best.”—BBC

“I’ve been reading Ethan Canin’s books since he first burst on the literary scene with the remarkableEmperor of the Air. I thought he could never equal the power of his last work,America America, but his latest novel is, I believe, his best by far. WithA Doubter’s Almanac, Canin has soared to a new standard of achievement. What a story, and what a cast of characters. The protagonist, Milo Andret, is a mathematical genius and one of the most maddening, compelling, appalling, and unforgettable characters I’ve encountered in American fiction. This is the story of a family that falls to pieces under the pressure of living with an abundantly gifted tyrant. Ethan Canin writes about mathematics as brilliantly as T. S. Eliot writes about poetry. With this extraordinary novel, Ethan Canin now takes his place on the high wire with the best writers of his time.”—Pat Conroy, #1New York Times bestselling author of The Prince of Tides and My Reading Life

“[Written] with stunning assurance and elegant, resonant prose . . . fascinating in its character portrayal and psychological insights . . . It is [Canin’s] superb storytelling that makes this novel a tremendous literary achievement.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Epic . . . thoroughly absorbing . . . a nuanced, heartbreaking portrait of a tortured mathematician . . . Canin, in translucent prose, elucidates the way a mathematician sees the world and humanity’s own insignificance within it. A harrowing, poignant read about the blessing and curse of genius.”—Booklist (starred review)

Praise for Ethan Canin

“The most mature and accomplished novelist of his generation.”—Alan Cheuse, NPR

“Canin’s achievement is one of both artistry and humanity.”—Newsday

“One of the most satisfying writers present on the contemporary scene.”—The New York Times

“One of the best writers at work today.”—Lorrie Moore


From the Hardcover edition.

Ethan Canin is the author of seven books, including the story collectionsEmperor of the Air and The Palace Thief and the novels For Kings and Planets,Carry Me Across the Water, and America America. He is on the faculty of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and divides his time between Iowa and northern Michigan.


From the Hardcover edition.