Math with Bad DrawingsCartoon Archive

Nine Stories

February 18, 2019

A Salinger fan claims to have read 'Nine Stories' in every order: 9! = 362,880 times.

Use this cartoon

Free for classrooms, worksheets, slides and other non-commercial use under CC BY-NC 4.0, with credit to Ben Orlin.

Cartoon by Ben Orlin, Math with Bad Drawings. https://cartoons.mathwithbaddrawings.com/2019-02-18-nine-stories/ (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Transcript

A: "Oh my gosh, I love J.D. Salinger! I must have reread that book so many times that I've experienced every permutation of the stories."

B (holding "9 Stories"): "You've read this book 362,880 times?"

A: "Now I can finally start rereading my favorite orders."

Topics
Discrete Math › PermutationsDiscrete Math › FactorialsNumber & Arithmetic › Large Numbers
Level
Middle SchoolHigh School
Themes
Literature & MythPuzzles & Problems
People
J.D. Salinger