'DeLillo's early-career masterpiece . . . a dense, entertaining, mind-bending boomerang of a book that luxuriates in the language of math and science' LA Times When Billy Twillig, a genius adolescent, wins the first Nobel Prize ever to be given in mathematics, he is recruited to live and work in the company of thirty Nobel laureates in obscurity underground. There, away from the rest of the world, this panel of estranged, demented and lovable scientists work together on a secret scientific project: deciphering a mysterious transmission received from outer space, from just near Ratner's Star. Written in DeLillo's characteristically mesmerizing prose, this brilliantly observed, funny and deeply thought-provoking novel explores the mysterious, mind-blowing, mathematical world of the future. 'Brilliant . . . the wit, elegance, and economy of Don DeLillo's art are equal to the bitter clarity of his perceptions' New York Times Book Review 'Eerie and intriguing . . . funny as well as instructive' Time 'A mind-expanding trip to the finish line, and full of wit and slapstick as well' Washington Post