A Working Theory of Love, Scott Hutchins
A Working Theory of Love, Scott Hutchins
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A Working Theory of Love

Author: Scott Hutchins

Narrator: Rob Shapiro

Unabridged: 12 hr 11 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 10/19/2012

Categories: Fiction


Synopsis

Settled back into the San Francisco singles scene following the implosion of his young marriage just months after the honeymoon, Neill Bassett is going through the motions. His carefully modulated routine, however, is soon disrupted in ways he can't dismiss with his usual nonchalance.

When Neill's father committed suicide ten years ago, he left behind thousands of pages of secret journals, journals that are stunning in their detail, and, it must be said, their complete banality. But their spectacularly quotidian details, were exactly what artificial intelligence company Amiante Systems was looking for, and Neill was able to parlay them into a job, despite a useless degree in business marketing and absolutely no experience in computer science. He has spent the last two years inputting the diaries into what everyone hopes will become the world's first sentient computer. Essentially, he has been giving it language—using his father's words. Alarming to Neill—if not to the other employees of Amiante—the experiment seems to be working. The computer actually appears to be gaining awareness and, most disconcerting of all, has started asking questions about Neill's childhood.

Amid this psychological turmoil, Neill meets Rachel. She was meant to be a one-night stand, but Neill is unexpectedly taken with her and the possibilities she holds. At the same time, he remains preoccupied by unresolved feelings for his ex-wife, who has a talent for appearing at the most unlikely and unfortunate times. When Neill discovers a missing year in the diaries—a year that must hold some secret to his parents' marriage and perhaps even his father's suicide—everything Neill thought he knew about his past comes into question, and every move forward feels impossible to make.

With a lightness of touch that belies pitch-perfect emotional control, Scott Hutchins takes us on an odyssey of love, grief, and reconciliation that shows us how, once we let go of the idea that we're trapped by our own sad histories—our childhoods, our bad decisions, our miscommunications with those we love—we have the chance to truly be free. A Working Theory of Love marks the electrifying debut of a prodigious new talent.

About Scott Hutchins

Scott Hutchins, a Truman Capote Fellow in the Wallace Stegner Program at Stanford University, received his MFA from the University of Michigan. His work has appeared in StoryQuarterly, the Rumpus, the New York Times, and Esquire. He currently teaches at Stanford. A Working Theory of Love is his first novel.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Megan

I picked this book up on a discount rack probably over a year ago primarily because I liked the cover. It then sat on my shelf as I chose books around it to read, always thinking that maybe I would get to it next but never actually doing then. Then one day I went to choose a book and thought, 'hey,......more

The New Yorker had cited this novel in a short list of notable books released this month. I liked the sound of the plot, and liked even more the praise it was given by the reviewers. I downloaded the first couple pages and was intrigued. The writing style was snappy, detailed, and hinted at bigger t......more

Goodreads review by Rose

Narrative drive is a mysterious thing. Fiction with narrative drive is supposed to be all about cliff-hanger plots that reveal, in a step-by-step fashion, the set-up for a gristly murder, saving the crucial piece of information -- the identity of the killer -- for the final page. The function of thi......more

Goodreads review by Lemar

Excellent debut novel. The best part is relationship between father and son which is rendered in a completely unique way, rich with possibilities, which are beautifully rendered. Neill describes himself as, “one of those guys, so good and polite that I bring nothing but misery to the world.” There......more