Take Denis Guedj's Parrot's Theorem, subtract all the hard-core mathematics, exchange the macaw for an African Grey, subtract the former's slightly stilted English in translation and multiply by Michael Chabon's beautiful native prose*, and what you have is a mystery about numbers (not math) with a soupçon of parrot abuse.
It should have been longer, and no one should be mean to a parrot.
* "The old man watched helpless as the boy, with mounting agitation, spun threads of loss from his palms and fingertips."