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The Fly Swatter: Portrait of an Exceptional Character
In The Fly Swatter , Nicholas Dawidoff--bestselling author of The Catcher Was a Spy --vividly reconstructs the life of his grandfather, Alexander Gerschenkron-the Harvard professor who knew the most.
A fascinating character, Gerschenkron feuded with Vladimir Nabokov and John Kenneth Galbraith, flirted with Marlene Dietrich, and played chess with Marcel Duchamp and one-upped both Isiah Berlin and (allegedly) Ted Williams. At Harvard, this celebrated polyglot was known as “The Great Gerschenkron.” He was an influential economic theorist who knew twenty languages and so much about so many other things that he was offered chairs in three departments. All this after beginning life with traumatic dramatic escapes from the Bolsheviks (in 1920) and the Nazis (in 1938). Riveting and eloquent, The Fly Swatter 's most unusual accomplishment is that it succeeds in telling the extraordinary story of a man's soul.
A fascinating character, Gerschenkron feuded with Vladimir Nabokov and John Kenneth Galbraith, flirted with Marlene Dietrich, and played chess with Marcel Duchamp and one-upped both Isiah Berlin and (allegedly) Ted Williams. At Harvard, this celebrated polyglot was known as “The Great Gerschenkron.” He was an influential economic theorist who knew twenty languages and so much about so many other things that he was offered chairs in three departments. All this after beginning life with traumatic dramatic escapes from the Bolsheviks (in 1920) and the Nazis (in 1938). Riveting and eloquent, The Fly Swatter 's most unusual accomplishment is that it succeeds in telling the extraordinary story of a man's soul.
- GenresBiographyNonfiction
368 pages, Paperback
First published May 7, 2002
4 people are currently reading
148 people want to read
About the author
Nicholas Dawidoff
19 books46 followersNicholas Dawidoff is the best-selling author of five books, including The Catcher Was a Spy and In the Country of Country. A Pulitzer Prize finalist, he has been a Guggenheim, Berlin Prize, and Art for Justice Fellow. He lives in Connecticut.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 19, 2008
Dawidoff chronicles the life, intellectual development and scholarship of his grandfather, ("The Great") Alexander Gerschenkron (1904-1978)("Shura" for short); the Russian-born Austrian expatriate, Harvard economics historian and all around "man who knew everything". The early chapters are interesting biography, the later chapters are an outline of Shura's education and scholarship, including an overview of Gerschenkron's decently sized but obscure economics work - which is still apparently revered by those in the know. Fine and light summer reading for economics students or speed-readers, but I doubt that Gerschenkron himself - apparently discerning with his choices of reading, and covetous of his time (despite being perhaps the most well read mortal I have ever heard of) would have recommended the book for a wide readership.
Two typos on pg. 301 of the Vintage paperback edition ("Robespierre", not "Robes Pierre").
Two typos on pg. 301 of the Vintage paperback edition ("Robespierre", not "Robes Pierre").
April 21, 2008
Nicholas Dawidoff spends 341 pages tracing the life of his grandfather, Alex Gerschenkron, from revolutionary Russia through pre-Nazi Vienna, and finally to Harvard via Berkeley.
I picked this up at our local American Corner (run by the Embassy) and wasn't quite sure if it would hold my interest. Gerschendron was an economics prof at Harvard in the late 50's through late 60's - possible a boring subject. But he turned out to be fascinating. He could have easily chaired three different departments at Harvard, learned close to 20 languages, had read every classic book in its original language, quoted verbatim from hundreds of sources, and taught and inspired a number of the most influential economists of the later 20th century.
My understanding of Russian and European economics, politics and histories is broader, my to-read list is longer, and I'm inspired to work on refreshing one or two of the languages I should speak better than I do. (If he could learn Swedish in one summer....)
One interesting fact - he spent a summer working in the shipyards of Richmond, north of Berkeley, to produce the "Liberty ships" during WWII, and became a fervent American patriot.
It never did get boring, and it ended exactly when it should have. One more chapter would have been too much.
I picked this up at our local American Corner (run by the Embassy) and wasn't quite sure if it would hold my interest. Gerschendron was an economics prof at Harvard in the late 50's through late 60's - possible a boring subject. But he turned out to be fascinating. He could have easily chaired three different departments at Harvard, learned close to 20 languages, had read every classic book in its original language, quoted verbatim from hundreds of sources, and taught and inspired a number of the most influential economists of the later 20th century.
My understanding of Russian and European economics, politics and histories is broader, my to-read list is longer, and I'm inspired to work on refreshing one or two of the languages I should speak better than I do. (If he could learn Swedish in one summer....)
One interesting fact - he spent a summer working in the shipyards of Richmond, north of Berkeley, to produce the "Liberty ships" during WWII, and became a fervent American patriot.
It never did get boring, and it ended exactly when it should have. One more chapter would have been too much.
March 26, 2020
As a portrait of the author's grandfather, this is a wonderful book -- warmly drawn and deeply felt. The prose merits 5 stars.
And yet, as a portrait of the now-obscure Harvard economist Alexander Gerschenkron, I can't help but wonder who this book is for.
Surely this must be the best biography of an economic historian ever written, but there can't be more than a few thousand economic historians in the whole world -- the Economic History Association claims a thousand members. Moreover, for specialists, there really isn't that much engagement with Gerschenkron the economist. Chapter 5 and 6 talk about his discovery of the index problem and his studies of European development, but that's about it. How Gerschenkron’s ideas have influenced later economic research or policy is never substantively discussed. While maybe this is the omission of a non-technical biographer, part of this was surely Gerschenkron’s choice: later in life, he scorned policy work, and burned bridges with his colleagues.
The book's main focus, and admittedly its real pleasures, lie in the colorful Gerschenkron stories: the tall tales about Ted Williams, the possibly-true brushes with Marcel Duchamp and Vladimir Nabokov and Marlene Dietrich. The early chapters, on Gerschenkron’s escapes from both the Russian Revolution and the Nazi Anschluss of Austria, are also skillfully written. For economists, the real treat of the book will be the middle chapters -- 6 through 9, in particular, are like a gossip rag for midcentury American economics, with Gerschenkron rubbing shoulders (and butting heads) with the likes of John Kenneth Galbraith and Paul Samuelson.
The book eventually seems to concede that Gerschenkron was a greater scholar than he was an actual producer of knowledge. He had one great idea, the advantages of economic backwardness, but never published a real book-length treatment about it, perhaps because he was always so busy showing off -- "The Great Gerschenkron" would famously rattle off passages of Pushkin from memory and master new languages over the weekend. But as economics became more mathematized and less literary, he was eventually left behind.
Perhaps it was because of this trend that Gerschenkron retreated even further into his books. He strove to embody the virtue of scholarliness for its own sake, turning himself into a certain idea of Harvard: one of thick, imposing books; stern, imposing graduate advisors; and respect -- above all, respect -- for academic authority. How you feel about this idea will likely determine your opinion of Gerschenkron the man.
And yet, as a portrait of the now-obscure Harvard economist Alexander Gerschenkron, I can't help but wonder who this book is for.
Surely this must be the best biography of an economic historian ever written, but there can't be more than a few thousand economic historians in the whole world -- the Economic History Association claims a thousand members. Moreover, for specialists, there really isn't that much engagement with Gerschenkron the economist. Chapter 5 and 6 talk about his discovery of the index problem and his studies of European development, but that's about it. How Gerschenkron’s ideas have influenced later economic research or policy is never substantively discussed. While maybe this is the omission of a non-technical biographer, part of this was surely Gerschenkron’s choice: later in life, he scorned policy work, and burned bridges with his colleagues.
The book's main focus, and admittedly its real pleasures, lie in the colorful Gerschenkron stories: the tall tales about Ted Williams, the possibly-true brushes with Marcel Duchamp and Vladimir Nabokov and Marlene Dietrich. The early chapters, on Gerschenkron’s escapes from both the Russian Revolution and the Nazi Anschluss of Austria, are also skillfully written. For economists, the real treat of the book will be the middle chapters -- 6 through 9, in particular, are like a gossip rag for midcentury American economics, with Gerschenkron rubbing shoulders (and butting heads) with the likes of John Kenneth Galbraith and Paul Samuelson.
The book eventually seems to concede that Gerschenkron was a greater scholar than he was an actual producer of knowledge. He had one great idea, the advantages of economic backwardness, but never published a real book-length treatment about it, perhaps because he was always so busy showing off -- "The Great Gerschenkron" would famously rattle off passages of Pushkin from memory and master new languages over the weekend. But as economics became more mathematized and less literary, he was eventually left behind.
Perhaps it was because of this trend that Gerschenkron retreated even further into his books. He strove to embody the virtue of scholarliness for its own sake, turning himself into a certain idea of Harvard: one of thick, imposing books; stern, imposing graduate advisors; and respect -- above all, respect -- for academic authority. How you feel about this idea will likely determine your opinion of Gerschenkron the man.
May 23, 2021
‘Fundamentally he was Russian, culturally he was a Russian, but his home was not Russia. It was Russian literature.’
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just finished this biography of ‘the great Gerschenkron’ (Alexander Gerschenkron/the author’s grandfather), and i found it to be absolutely fascinating, profound, and incredibly inspiring. every page in this book seemed (to me at least) to command a certain seriousness and i found myself needing to constantly highlight every passage or anecdote i wished to eventually revisit one day. i looked up Russian authors beloved by the author’s grandfather (Turgenev, Gogol, Goncharov, Blok, Pushkin, Pasternak, Lermontov, ..) and made a mental note to check their works. this book transported me from Odessa to Cambridge and left me in awe of the resilience of the human spirit. Alexander Gerschenkron experienced the cost of war and its traumatic effects during the Bolshevik Revolution, then later in Austria, when the German troops invaded the streets of Vienna. he survived both events and eventually made his way to Harvard, by way of Berkeley, where he was offered chairs in three disciplines. my most favorite passages were probably those relating to his love and appreciation of books and great authors. ‘As with every other problem in his life, he found solution on his bookshelf.’ my only wish out of this bio was to know more about Alexander’s grief and the things that brought him pain. ‘My grandfather lived through horrible times, and once those times were over, he never really talked about them with anyone, including, so far as I know, his wife. In this way, he rarely admitted the obvious—that they made him unhappy. Such is the nature of human beings that because he could not say he was unhappy, his unhappiness remained with him.’
all and all, a beautiful and very interesting biography of an undeniably great man.
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just finished this biography of ‘the great Gerschenkron’ (Alexander Gerschenkron/the author’s grandfather), and i found it to be absolutely fascinating, profound, and incredibly inspiring. every page in this book seemed (to me at least) to command a certain seriousness and i found myself needing to constantly highlight every passage or anecdote i wished to eventually revisit one day. i looked up Russian authors beloved by the author’s grandfather (Turgenev, Gogol, Goncharov, Blok, Pushkin, Pasternak, Lermontov, ..) and made a mental note to check their works. this book transported me from Odessa to Cambridge and left me in awe of the resilience of the human spirit. Alexander Gerschenkron experienced the cost of war and its traumatic effects during the Bolshevik Revolution, then later in Austria, when the German troops invaded the streets of Vienna. he survived both events and eventually made his way to Harvard, by way of Berkeley, where he was offered chairs in three disciplines. my most favorite passages were probably those relating to his love and appreciation of books and great authors. ‘As with every other problem in his life, he found solution on his bookshelf.’ my only wish out of this bio was to know more about Alexander’s grief and the things that brought him pain. ‘My grandfather lived through horrible times, and once those times were over, he never really talked about them with anyone, including, so far as I know, his wife. In this way, he rarely admitted the obvious—that they made him unhappy. Such is the nature of human beings that because he could not say he was unhappy, his unhappiness remained with him.’
all and all, a beautiful and very interesting biography of an undeniably great man.
September 1, 2020
I liked it but with reservations.
The author writes about his grandfather, Alexander Gerschenkron. Gerschendron was a confident, intelligent professor at Harvard, who had words with John Kenneth Galbraith and others with whom he disagreed. Called "the Great Gerschenkron", he was a legendary economist who was master of at least twenty languages.
The Great started his career by escaping - from Russia and then Germany - and doing so dramatically. It seems that drama was one part of him that he never gave up, as he had given up newspapers (took away from time reading books) and anything else that affected his scholarly ways.
He was also known as king of one-up-manship. He always had to go one better than someone else. It was not faked; he had the credentials every day. I think sometimes of my own father, who was considered a genius (in architecture) and who was a narcissist. My father had the goods too.
This is a beautifully written book that reveals much about a complex man, most importantly his insides. Incidentally, it also serves as another example of what we lose when we refuse entrance to immigrants.
The author writes about his grandfather, Alexander Gerschenkron. Gerschendron was a confident, intelligent professor at Harvard, who had words with John Kenneth Galbraith and others with whom he disagreed. Called "the Great Gerschenkron", he was a legendary economist who was master of at least twenty languages.
The Great started his career by escaping - from Russia and then Germany - and doing so dramatically. It seems that drama was one part of him that he never gave up, as he had given up newspapers (took away from time reading books) and anything else that affected his scholarly ways.
He was also known as king of one-up-manship. He always had to go one better than someone else. It was not faked; he had the credentials every day. I think sometimes of my own father, who was considered a genius (in architecture) and who was a narcissist. My father had the goods too.
This is a beautifully written book that reveals much about a complex man, most importantly his insides. Incidentally, it also serves as another example of what we lose when we refuse entrance to immigrants.
October 3, 2023
This book was personally interesting to me because of family connections that overlapped some of the time Professor Gerschenkron spent at Harvard, particularly his starting the Social Studies major. The book also provides to be a well written considered biography of a complex man, forced by circumstances, to flee first Russia and then Austria to start over again each time forming a picture of both resilience and angst. It is a tribute to the author, his grandson, that he has depicted the personal and intellectual complexities dispassionately and with great love.
July 6, 2020
Nicholas Dawidoff is an excellent writer who captivates and informs the reader with his exceptional writing skills and his clear understanding of the written word. I would have given the 5-star rating based on the fluency and beauty of the writing alone. However, as someone keenly interested in economics, I found this memoir of Alexander Gerschenkron, the author's grandfather, as incredibly satiating in its own right. I have found that it's very difficult to find interesting accounts of economists, whether famous or not and the chapters that explain how Gerschenkron was able to rise as an exceptional economist and professor were a joy to read. I recommend this book to anyone who has a passion for reading, as they will find solace with the Great Gerschenkron's passion for books, and to anyone who has an interest in the history of economics. There is also a great deal of information on the faculty at Harvard and their day to day interactions.
August 31, 2025
Beautifully told. So much was said about various scholarly classics that I have newfound interest in non-fiction of so many different topics. Gerschenkron seemed like quite a person, and this book does him justice. I highly recommend.
November 30, 2022
4.5 stars
August 13, 2024
My book of the summer.
Will get you fired up to read more books.
Will get you fired up to read more books.
June 30, 2022
A good biography of a notable economist. Certainly an interesting life.
June 8, 2014
OK, I am giving up on this book. Some of it was interesting, and I was almost finished with it, but it has slowed down a lot and I just can't make the final push to get through it. While the detail in this book is amazing, it never really grabbed me, and I feel like most people have a grandfather whose life could be worthy of a biography. Read it for a glimpse of pre-war Ukraine, of Harvard during the time he was there, and the changing nature of what it means to be a professional economist.
August 30, 2012
One night I forgot to take my Kindle to work. Desperate for something to read during lunch break, I rummaged among the meagre piles of castoff books lying forgotten on top of a coatrack in the breakroom, and came across this surprisingly interesting biography of Harvard prof. Alexander Gerschenkron, written by his grandson.
January 3, 2021
Amazing story and amazing writing!!!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews