Seven books about the real J. Robert Oppenheimer

Aaron Tucker is the author of the novel Y: Oppenheimer, Horseman of Los Alamos as well as two books of poetry, Irresponsible Mediums: The Chess Games of Marcel Duchamp and punchlines, and two scholarly cinema studies monographs, Virtual Weaponry: The Militarized Internet in Hollywood War Films and Interfacing with the Internet in Popular Cinema.

At LitHub Tucker tagged seven books about J. Robert Oppenheimer, director of the Manhattan Project. One title on the list:

Jennet Conant, 109 East Palace: Robert Oppenheimer and the Secret City of Los Alamos

This book is an intimate recounting of the Manhattan Project and Los Alamos, primarily through Dorthy McKibbin, the woman responsible for settling the scientists when they first arrived in Santa Fe before they left for Los Alamos. A close confidant of the scientist, the exploration of McKibbin’s biography alongside that of Oppenheimer’s, and their intertwined histories, grants this book unique insight into the magnetic pull that New Mexico had on both of them. It is reportedly in the process of being made into a major motion picture.

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue