A Naked Singularity

As a reader you probably find yourself telling a close friend you definitely have the next book for them. I’ve found that the best friends in times like these are the folks that love half of what you do and question the rest. Conflict, right? At least this way you get outside of your habits. My longest standing “book friend,” and lucky for me real life friend, and I share this dynamic.

“A Naked Singularity” by Sergio De La Pava is the title I’ve been telling everyone about for a couple of years now. I found this book on the Employee Suggestion rack at my somewhat local Barnes and Noble. I picked it up, put it down, walked around and came back. I’m not sure how many times I did this, it was a few, but the insane looking cover and the comments on the back drew me in. There were suggestions that this was a mix of the Wire and works by Thomas Pynchon. I was looking for something heavy and admittedly high-brow and so they had me.

This was a great and rare situation where I truly did not know what to expect. I did a quick page count which I think a lot of us may do and found the total well over the average. I waited a couple of weeks to start and finally found myself in a Texas airport digging in.

The first almost hundred pages were tough. I will not say they will be tough for you, this is just me. I actually sent a text to a friend that said something like uh oh stuck in some hipster nonsense. I am thrilled now to be so wrong. I’m just saying it’s a big book, give it some time in case you are weary right away.

By the time the book was moving along I saw the protagonist Casi in some kind of broken but familiar light. He’s a young guy and he’s gifted with a lot, a career and family, but he’s frustrated. Frankly, he’s going a little nuts. I was in.

Once I found Casi the shifts the book makes and its serious density could settle. There are literally pages of non stop dialogue that I’ve described to friends as similar to Aaron Sorkin written shows, though I wish I had a better comparison. The descriptions of courtroom activity are also thorough and lengthy. Casi is a guy who thinks a lot and each of the many different approaches of the story reflect this. Well that’s fine. I like thinking. I love to think. I think about thinking. I could get lost in all of this wonderful detail.

Then, as I was hoping and was promised by the book jacket, the story came along as well. I can’t and will never be able to say enough about how I believe the best works, and there are so few they are really treasures, walk the line between philosophy and flat out action. I’m not saying Singularity nailed it, but it is definitely the most modern example at an attempt to do so. I’d be happy to say this is a novel of at least the times, if not a generation.

Oh, so what happens? Right. Well Casi is a lawyer and he’s struggling and questioning most of what he sees. Crime circles both his personal and work life more rapidly until well, they can’t get any closer. I’m not telling any more. There are New York centered pieces of the book that I feel are accurate and underrepresented in popular culture. Casi’s interactions with people are transparent to real life. There are serious pages given to a side history of boxing that I absolutely loved. Thinking, thinking, oh to analyze. This was divine indulgence for any restless brain.

My friend who relented and finally took my suggestion thought the book was hilarious. He loved it. I liked the serious parts, he repeated the funny ones. We discussed interviews with the author. I found De La Pava’s story and his opinions on par with his work and almost equally fascinating. He’s won some awards and I was definitely rooting for him.

Most of the time suggestions from our friends just get added to the book list. If A Naked Singularity is on yours, I say go for it. If you are lucky enough to have someone to talk about it with, even better. But it is a massive and potentially introspective book so don’t be too worried if your friends take some coaxing to get on board. If you decide to take it on yourself, just like Casi, you can’t lose.