Loving Richard Feynman by Penny Tangey

I just love it when quirky little books find their way to me.

Loving Richard Feynman first popped up on my radar after Mandi (@thebookishmanicurist) spotlighted it on one of her amazing Insta posts. Being married to an engineer who is an avid devotee of Richard Feynman (they even share a birthday!), I was immediately intrigued about the concept of a teenage girl writing letters to dead Nobel-winning physicist. I'm not exactly one who reads science-y books, but I've actually read the book Catherine rations out reading, Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman, which serves as a perfect device to help explore her ever-changing feelings for the physicist and life in general. It was actually a treat to see many of my same observations of that book echoed by Catherine in such an intelligent and pragmatic manner. I too think Catherine is a 'box of nerdish delight."

I thoroughly enjoyed Catherine's odd-duck observations on the mysteries of teen-dom. When done well, epistolary novels are often my favorite type to read and Catherine's struggles to deal with ridicule and overtures of friendship from her classmates are presented with careful honesty in this format. I found myself utterly swept up in her clear prose. I couldn't recommend this book enough and I'm so glad I took the trouble to track a copy down.

One new moment of Feynman's life I discovered thanks to this fabulous little story was a love letter Feynman wrote to his deceased wife two years after she passed. Read it without tears, I dare you.

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