"Wonderfully rich and precise. . . . Do me a favor. . . read the first paragraph." --Erik Lundegaard, The Seattle Times/Post Intelligencer

"Exquisitely written. . . . [C]ertain to charm away the idle hours." -Trevor Butterworth, The Washington Post Book World

"Both a study of the immigrant experience and a vivid picture of mid-century intellectual life at America's preeminent university. But most of all it is a touching portrait of a complex and staggeringly learned individual, written by one of the few people he allowed to touch his heart." -Daniel Akst, Smithsonian

"An absorbing, psychologically nuanced and overall balanced appraisal of a complex man who lived in complex times. . . . A widely researched, meticulously documented portrayal." --Marion Abbott, San Francisco Chronicle

"Dawidoff's captivating family memoir is a tribute to his twice-exiled grandfather, the Harvard economist Alexander Gerschenkron, retracing his tortuous path to Cambridge and recounting the intellectual passion that earned Gerschenkron the title 'the last man with all known knowledge.'" --The New York Times Book Review

"This is a splendidly crafted book: partly a valuable estimate of Gerschenkron's place in the history of theory, partly a study of academic life and politics in the 20th century and above all a thoughtful and often charming personal memoir." --St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"Nicholas Dawidoff has written a wonderful book, full of humor, love, and understanding." --The New York Sun

"It wouldn't be an overstatement to say this loving memoir is the most fascinating in its class." --Chicago Tribune

"A loving, carefully researched, effortless-seeming book--a delight to read. The story of the great Alexander Gerschenkron as told by his grandson combines the smallest and most telling personal details with an exhilarating wide-angle view of twentieth-century intellectual life." --Ian Frazier, author of Family and Great Plains

"The Fly Swatter is a terrific book for many reasons. Amateur students . . . will appreciate Dawidoff's discussion of economic theory. Historians will likewise enjoy his chronicle of a human character moving through world events. . . . Dawidoff's unusual perspective as a grandson might be most compelling for another set of readers." --The Austin Chronicle

"One marvelous memoir." -Booklist

"To give birth to one's own grandfather is no mean feat, but that is exactly Dawidoff's great triumph. The Fly Swatter is a densely imagined, beautifully written book." --Peter Carey, author of True History of the Kelly Gang

"If [Alexander Gerschenkron] has access to a celestial computer and can download (or perhaps upload?) Nicky Boy's moving tribute, he must be proudly savoring every word." --The New Leader