In her compelling debut novel Notes on Infinity, Austin Taylor transforms the traditional campus novel into a modern start-up parable. The story follows Zoe, a polished Harvard chemistry student, and Jack, a seemingly erratic genius, as they embark on a whirlwind journey from college dropouts to biotech entrepreneurs with their company, Manna, which claims to hold the secret to extending human life. But beneath the surface of their meteoric rise lies deception, ambition, and the high cost of denial.
Drawing clear inspiration from real-world scandals like Theranos and FTX, Taylor explores how ambition can morph into fraud—often starting as a temporary fix and snowballing into full-blown catastrophe. The novel doesn’t reveal the pair’s initial lie until after their downfall, leaving readers with a sense of foreboding as they try to uncover where things went wrong.
While the plot’s familiarity occasionally undermines its suspense, Taylor offsets this with a complex portrayal of Zoe and Jack’s relationship. Their bond, marked by shared secrecy and loyalty, gives depth to a story that might otherwise read like a tech-world cautionary tale.
The book captures how the culture of entrepreneurship has reshaped social dynamics on elite campuses. In one revealing moment, Jack overhears wealthy classmates placing bets on which outsider might become “the next Zuck.” In such an environment, relationships are reduced to strategic investments.
Taylor’s prose shines in its portrayal of start-up culture’s relentless pressure. As Manna grows, Zoe and Jack fall into stereotypical roles: she becomes the polished spokesperson, bearing the brunt of public scrutiny, while Jack embraces the archetype of the eccentric inventor. Their roles reflect their upbringings—Zoe, raised in an academic elite household, learned to charm intellectuals from a young age; Jack, shaped by poverty in rural Maine, hides his past and avoids using it to gain sympathy.
Taylor is particularly effective when writing from Jack’s perspective. His internal narration is looser, more intimate, and often laced with vivid imagery: “He scurried off like some sort of nervous wildlife, spooked in the night. A deer. Or, better for Cambridge, a rat.” Zoe’s voice, by contrast, is tightly controlled, mirroring the double standard faced by women in STEM fields—where precision and polish are required to earn the credibility freely given to their male counterparts.
Through Zoe, Taylor deftly explores the subtle inequities women face in scientific fields. Despite being the more disciplined and organized half of the duo, Zoe is left to manage Jack’s messes—both public and private—while the world continues to celebrate the myth of the male genius.
Though Notes on Infinity leans heavily on recent scandals for its premise, Taylor elevates the narrative through sharp psychological insight and social critique. Her debut marks a promising start, offering both an engrossing story and a piercing look into the culture of ambition, privilege, and deception in today’s tech-driven world.
