According to the "foreward to the Anchor Books Edition", this
collection of short stories is "strung together on a few echoed and developed themes and [circles] back upon itself; not to close a simple circuit like that of Joyce's Finnegan's Wake, emblematic of Viconian etermal return, but to make a circuit with a twist to it, like a Möbius strip, emblematic of -- well, read the book."
I did read the book, and recognized that the theme of creation (sexual and literary) seemed to tie the stories together. However, were it not for this passage in the foreward and for the first "story", I would not have thought to include it in this list of mathematical fiction.
The first "story", called Frame-tale, is actually a Mobius strip!
It is a single page with the words "ONCE UPON A TIME THERE" written at one edge and "WAS A STORY
THAT BEGAN" on the opposite side, with instructions for
joining the ends to make a Möbius strip.
A visitor to this site, Birgit Gerdes, has written me to let me know that
she believes there is a great deal of hidden mathematics in this
collection of stories. In general, I shy away from such statements since I
believe that you can "find" hidden math in any work of fiction (or
non-fiction). However, since the author clearly had at least some
mathematics in mind when writing this work, perhaps there is justification
in finding mathematics in expressions such as "In sum..." which can
ordinarily be used in English without any real mathematical implications.
(Also, take a look at the review of this book by mathematician Nik Weaver at his "Math in Fiction" website.) Contributed by
Evan
Lots to think about and good fun too.
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