The Genius Factory

David Plotz relates the odd story of a California sperm bank. Robert K. Graham's aim was to gather the sperm of Nobel Prize winners, impregnate educated white women with it, and thus create a new cadre of geniuses. Stefan Rudnicki captures Plotz's amused and appalled tone at this bizarre mission. Plotz finds himself a sort of "semen detective," tracking down children and donors. Rudnicki's deep, resonant voice sensitively expresses the feelings of some of the sperm-bank children, who struggle to understand their relationships with others, including donors. He also adeptly characterizes some of the donors-folks who range from a dilettante to a humble scientist who has a desperate craving to know "his" children. A.B. (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine