Sat 9 Jan 2021
Stories I’m Reading: SEAN DOOLITTLE “Summa Mathematica.â€
Posted by Steve under Stories I'm Reading[2] Comments
SEAN DOOLITTLE “Summa Mathematica.†First published in Crime Spree (*). Reprinted in The Best American Mystery Stories, 2002, edited by James Ellroy & Otto Penzler (Houghton Mifflin, softcover, 2002).
There are stories, depending on who starts to read them, simply cannot be put down. This particular story may not appeal to you, I understand that, but having spent well over half my life teaching mathematics, this is one that, well, I simply could not be put down.
It’s the story of a math professor whose mind, in the middle of teaching a calculus class, goes blank. All of a sudden, numbers no longer make sense to him any more. All the medical profession can tell him is that he has “nonspecific acalculia.†Which translated, means “beats us, chum.â€
Later on, working the late shift at a burger barn, a customer makes him an offer he can’t refuse: pay up his gambling debts, or else. One of the “for elseâ€s is to work for the boss as his financial accountant, which ordinarily wouldn’t turn out so bad, but under the circumstances, wouldn’t you just know?
I don’t know just how this short but effective tale fits in as a “mystery†story, but I guess “mystery†covers a lot of territory as a subgenre of general overall fiction. (*) The real mystery comes in when it comes to trying to discover where this story was first published. Google fails me. And if you were thinking of Crimespree magazine, as I was, that particular magazine didn’t start up until 2004. What am I missing?
January 10th, 2021 at 8:55 am
I think the Doolittle story first appeared in “Crime Spree-An Anthology of Dark Crime and Mystery Fiction” ed Sandy de Luca which was published in 2001.
January 10th, 2021 at 10:06 am
Yes, that’s it. Thanks, Phil. Here’s a link to the book’s Amazon page:
https://www.amazon.com/Crime-Spree-Anthology-Mystery-Fiction/dp/B000MGXSII
With only minimal information there (and a sales rank in the abysmal 19 millions), here’s more on Goodreads, with at least a cover image and a list of some of the other authors. No reviews, though:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18485762-crime-spree-an-anthology-of-dark-crime-and-mystery-fiction
To me, most of the contributors are known more for their works of dark fantasy than they are for their crime fiction, but I could very well be worng about that.