HOW I WON A NOBEL PRIZE

Lauren Fortgang performs this clever satirical novel with a quick pulse and a snappy cadence. She does a fine job adjusting to the mood swings as two courses of action--science and revolution--intersect. She gives Helen, the protagonist and self-referential narrator, a sense of the absurdity of her plight. A brilliant scientist with an extraordinary ability at calculation, Helen follows her mentor from Cornell to a research university set on an imaginary island off the Connecticut coast, a kind of home for anti-woke academics and other culture warriors. Her mate, Hugh, begrudgingly goes with her but soon joins an anarchist group that opposes the regressive institution, and hijinks ensue. A fun and worthwhile listen. A.D.M. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2023]