A Naked Singularity

Author: Sergio De La Pava


Sergio De La Pava is definitely a persuasive dude. Whether it is describing the law enforcement in New York, or the various trial arguments I couldn't help but be impressed with the power of the intellect behind this book.

This book is 700 plus pages long and fairly dense, both in print as well as in content. However the author tells a very lucid and clear tale. To be precise, he tells multiple tales, some of which could have been safely omitted without taking anything away from the story. Sergio has an awesome ability to tell stories and you can't avoid being swept up by the authenticity of the narrator. 

Casi is a public defender in New York city and is master of his game. The book provides a good flavor of what transpires in the bowels of a New York courthouse. You can tell that the author knows his legal s#@% especially in the State of New York. There's a great explanation of how the Miranda Law (Reading of your rights before questioning) came into being. I am sure Serge could bestow a lot more wisdom on similar legal practices and I would have appreciated if he had included more of these in the book. The author also offers up his cynicism on the effectiveness of the legal system in New York

In addition to the legal drama, there are several philosophical musings that will definitely challenge your intellect. I liked the logical treatment of the various possibilities of what happens after death. There are several different things going on in the book, and when you are reading this book, you should expect to be consumed with  "the fear of being drawn into bizarre and ultimately irrelevant conversations". Strangely the quote is from the book and it aptly summarizes my feelings towards it. 

Despite all the above criticism, I repeat, this is one heck of a book. Read it an you will be impressed.

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

Author: Karen Joy Fowler

Karen Joy Fowler has written books of every genre including science fiction, fantasy and even literary fiction. However, this tale defies classification as it is somewhere between fiction and non-fiction and tells a story of family that has adopted a chimpanzee and the psychological impact it has on the children as they grow up.  The story is told by the daughter Rosemary Cooke and is written in a very collegiate, contemporary style. Sentences like "I went into the kitchen, phoned the airport, where my call was very important to them, and left a message" remind you of some of the madness of our times. You will chuckle at many of these as you read through this book.

The author tries desperately to compare our thoughts and feelings to those of a chimpanzee living amidst a family. Not only is this hard to identify with, but it is also hard to get past the absurdity of the comparison. Nevertheless you do get to learn something about the social behavior of chimpanzees. You also learn about the behavior of young kids and maybe there isn't that much difference at some level.

One of the nice quotes in the book that I am sure I will find an opportunity to use is, "Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself". Overall, a good read that entertains and educates. 

We are All Completely Beside Ourselves

Author: Karen J. Fowler

Karen Joy Fowler has written books of every genre including science fiction, fantasy and even literary fiction. However, this tale defies classification as it is somewhere between fiction and non-fiction and tells a story of family that has adopted a chimpanzee and the psychological impact it has on the children as they grow up.  The story is told by the daughter Rosemary Cooke and is written in a very collegiate, contemporary style. Sentences like "I went into the kitchen, phoned the airport, where my call was very important to them, and left a message" remind you of some of the madness of our times. You will chuckle at many of these as you read through this book.

The author tries desperately to compare our thoughts and feelings to those of a chimpanzee living amidst a family. Not only is this hard to identify with, but it is also hard to get past the absurdity of the comparison. Nevertheless you do get to learn something about the social behavior of chimpanzees. You also learn about the behavior of young kids and maybe there isn't that much difference at some level.

One of the nice quotes in the book that I am sure I will find an opportunity to use is, "Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself". Overall, a good read that entertains and educates.

The silent wife

Author: A.S.A. Harrison


Another thriller in the genre of “Gone Girl”. This is a story of a marriage gone bad, really, really bad. It is well written and as you read it you will be turning the pages to see how things can possibly get worse. And worse they do get. The book will probably leave you a little disturbed, but isn’t that what good books are for ?

Devil in the Grove

Author: Gilbert King


On opening this book you find yourself smack dab in the middle of the segregation and abuse of African Americans in Florida in the late nineteen forties. While the main storyline is around the trial and retrial of the four blacks who were accused of raping a seventeen year old white girl, in Groveland FL, the book is interspersed with the details of the rising influence of Thurgood Marshall in the NAACP and the country as a whole.

At a higher level the book makes you wonder about how difficult it must have been for a black man to get a fair hearing in the mid twentieth century United States. A subtle point to note is that the judicial system was not inherently broken. There was a judge and jury before which the trial was held. However, the judge and jury were too biased and prejudiced in their view of Black people. Also the racially charged atmosphere of 1950s Florida, dominated by the Ku Klux Klan, made it virtually impossible for white people to come out and testify for the defense, lest they be branded "nigger-lovers".

While reading this book, I was reminded of my first encounter with reality TV as I witnessed the OJ Simpson trial in all its glory. This was another case that was split along racial lines. But this time the pendulum swung the other way. Most black folk felt that OJ was not guilty, while most white folks were convinced that he was the murderer. Regardless of the preponderance of incriminating evidence, the predominantly black jury acquitted OJ Simpson.

It got me thinking of what it takes to make the judicial system fair. Maybe we ought to ensure that for cases where race or other prevailing prejudices are a huge influencing factor, the jury should be comprised of foreigners ;-)

Whether, or not, you are intrigued by the US judicial system, the book makes a compelling read as you flip the pages trying to figure out whether any of the defendants survive the racially charged atmosphere that was prevalent during that time across the Southern United States. I could not put the book down till I reached the end and then went on to research the internet to see what happened after that trial.

Overall, this is a great book that everyone in the United States should read to understand how lucky we are to have survived those dark times in the history of the United States.