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A theoretical physicist and a writer, Alan Lightman's novels include The "Diagnosis", a finalist for the National Book Award, "Ghost", and the international bestseller "Einstein's Dreams",, which has become one of the most widely read books on college campuses. Salman Rushdie calls it "at once intellectually provocative and touching and comic and so very beautifully written."

Praised by The New York Times as "a scientist in love with words, one who can write clearly and appealingly about his subject for a lay readership," Lightman is widely considered one of the great scientific interpreters of his generation. His acclaimed non-fiction books include "A Sense of the Mysterious" and "The Discoveries: Great Breakthroughs in 20th Century Science". His essays have appeared in Nature, The Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker and top scientific journals.

Lightman has served on the faculties of Harvard, where he taught physics and astronomy, and MIT, where he was one of the first people to receive a dual faculty appointment, in science and in the humanities. He has been recognized for his writings by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, where he is a Fellow, and has twice been a juror for The Pulitzer Prize, in the fiction and non-fiction categories.

Mr g: A Novel About the Creation (Hardcover)

By Alan Lightman

$24.95

ISBN-13: 9780307379993
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Pantheon, 1/2012

Other Editions of this Title

With echoes of Calvino, Rushdie, and Saramago, this is a stunningly imaginative work that celebrates the tragic and joyous nature of existence on the grandest possible scale.

"As I remember, I had just woken up from a nap when I decided to create the universe." So begins Alan Lightman's playful and profound new novel, Mr g, the story of Creation as narrated by God. Bored with living in the shimmering Void with his bickering Uncle Deva and Aunt Penelope, Mr g creates time, space, and matter—then moves on to stars, planets, consciousness, and finally intelligent beings with moral dilemmas.

But even the best-laid plans can go awry, and Mr g discovers that with his creation of space and time come unforeseen consequences—especially in the form of the mysterious Belhor, a clever and devious rival. An intellectual equal to Mr g, Belhor delights in provocation: he demands an explanation for the inexplicable, requests that intelligent creatures not be subject to rational laws, and maintains the necessity of evil. As Mr g watches his favorite universe grow into maturity, he begins to understand how the act of creation can change the Creator himself.

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