An absolute genius masterpiece. One of my favorite books and worthy of rereading. The concept is brilliant, and executed greatly. Critical of current structures in place and especially academia with well deployed arguments and insights with substance. Poetically written and many lines and paragraphs that will make you pause, reflect, and think. The book ends on a masterful novella, where loneliness is beautifully constructed, explored, and debated. Thankful for the ideas about academics and loneliness, perhaps intertwined issues of our times.

The only reason that this is not 5 stars is because of its treatment of female characters. Having a lack of them is not a problem for me per se. Rather, it’s the way they are put on paper as background props and sexual objects. Very often they are an (unnecessary) addition in a paragraph just to be perceived and lusted after, instead of providing balance to the story. Besides this distortion, which could definitely drive you away, I encourage you to read this in a moment you don’t feel required, and know that you are.

This mix of short stories was interesting and challenging. It really made me think. 

while some stories were not my favorite and i did not vibe well with them (dropped my rating a bit to include those), there were a few i really adored, including the final story that took up a third or so of the book, Special Topic in Loneliness Studies (if this were a novella on its own, it would have been a 5 star read for me), as well as A Rare and Powerful Employee (show-stopping tbh) and Mercury in Retrograde.

i was able to attend a book talk with this author and we were able to ask questions re: the misogyny many of his characters embody. i agree this book will not be for everyone given its explicit nature, and it truthfully can be quite offensive at times.

but there is a lot to take from this series of (loosely interconnected) stories. it’s quirky and smart, and Scott’s stories regarding machines (like Mercury in Retrograde) are so well thought out.

tough read, and i had to take breaks between some of the stories, but i urge you to read through to (or skip to) Special Topic in Loneliness Studies. i feel a lot of his work fully comes together in this story. raw and breathtaking.

What part of this was the most unpleasant? The fact that every POV character was a self-pitying asshole who couldn't take responsibility for his choices if his life depended on it? The rape fantasies most of them have? The female characters who don't even have names half the time and have the personalities and believability of wet bags of flour, when they're not being treated as villains for having interests outside of fucking the man they have the misfortune of being in a room with? It was well written, I'll give it that, but reading about men jerking off to their right to be shitheads is not my idea of a good time, regardless of the presentation. Anything interesting the author had to say about race or classism or the flaws of higher education was buried for me under the sexism and the circle-jerk pretentiousness that soaked the work. The end spends a great deal of time talking about the sexism occurring in an unrequited love affair, but seems unaware that the preceding pages are nothing but men whining about annoying women, prudish women, women who want to fuck people who are not them. Perhaps this was the point. Perhaps the author thought he was subverting this. If so, he failed horribly. By the time anything in the narrative began to condemn such behavior I had already slogged through 95% of the book throwing around the word bitch anytime a woman dared to express an opinion. Any opinion. I had lost any willingness to assume the best of the authors intentions. I am glad I did not spend money on this book, and will be pleased to send it away. 

Technically brilliant. Amazing world building. The robot stories were delightful. But I tried to read it for 2 months before giving up. Didn’t care enough about the characters to finish. Tried to skip to the last chapter, but got bored and quit reading. 

One challenge I found with this book is the role women play in this book. At times I noticed a one dimensional nature to them, or perhaps use as a “prop,” so to speak.