The Parrot's Theorem

DENIS GUEDJ

Publication: St Martin's Press, 2000, New York

First U. S. edition. As new unread copy in dust jacket. A reclusive Parisian bookseller inherits a vast library of mathematical books from a long-lost friend who dies a mysterious death in the Amazon. He soon learns that he must prevent some of the mathematical theorems in those books from falling into the wrong hands. Fine in dust jacket. $20.00Mr. Ruche, a Parisian bookseller, receives a bequest from a long lost friend in the Amazon of a vast library of math books, which propels him into a great exploration of the story of mathematics. Meanwhile Max, whose family lives with Mr. Ruche, takes in a voluble parrot who will discuss math with anyone. When Mr. Ruche learns of his friend's mysterious death in a Brazilian rainforest, he decides that with the parrot's help he will use these books to teach Max and his brother and sister the mysteries of Euclid's Elements, Pythagoras's Theorem and the countless other mathematical wonders. But soon it becomes clear that Mr. Ruche has inherited the library for reasons other than enlightenment, and before he knows it the household is racing to prevent the parrot and vital, new theorems from falling into the wrong hands.