Reluctant Genius: The Passionate Life and Inventive Mind of Alexander Graham Bell by Charlotte Gray

I read this sometime ago, but since Charlotte Gray recently won the Ottawa Book Award for this book, I figured I'd post my review here for others to read.

In Reluctant Genius: The Passionate Life and Inventive Mind of Alexander Graham Bell, Charlotte Gray presents an extremely fascinating and comprehensive look at the amazing life of Alexander Graham Bell. In Gray’s very capable hands, Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, becomes Alec, teacher and champion of the deaf, husband, father, friend, sheep breeder, inventor and so much more. She showed us his strengths and his weaknesses as well as his passions and his indifferences. We also get to know his wife, Mabel, first his student, then his life long companion.

Loved it, loved it, loved it. It was a delight to read and I enjoyed every minute of it. Gray’s writing is clear, concise and accessible. It’s a joy to read.

There’s so much about Alec that I don’t know. Most people know he invented the telephone. But what else did he do? In one word: everything. He’s interests were eclectic and his research spanned many disciplines. His imagination, like his spirit, knew no bounds.

A must read for biography lovers and, well, everyone who’s ever used a telephone.