The Quest for Alexandre Grothendieck and a Translation of the Introduction and Promenade sections of Grothendieck's Memoir Recoltes et Semailles

When, in 1988, Roy Lisker learned that the famous mathematician Alexandre Grothendieck had refused a very prestigious prize for his work, Lisker convinced an influential French magazine to hire him to search for Grothendieck and uncover his whereabouts and interview him. Grothendieck had left the world of mathematics and was living somewhere in France as a hermit. This book is an account of Lisker's attempt to find Grothendieck's address and his stay at Grothendieck's place. The second part is a partial translation of Grothendieck's controversial memoir.