I really, really enjoyed this quirky, thought-provoking, semi-dystopian, semi-magic realism take on I’m not sure what. Professor Wala Kitu, renowned expert on “Nothing” is on the faculty at Brown University in the mathematics department, but he rarely has to teach his small graduate class. His work on “Nothing” is renowned. He is on the autism spectrum, owns a one legged dog named Trigo and is kind of friends with Eigen Vector, an actual mathematics professor at Brown, also on the spectrum and just figuring out she’s not getting as much pay as Kitu even though she has a regular class load to teach and is brilliant.
Enter John Sill, orphaned son of a Memphis madame/real estate tycoon who has turned sour on the US. He hires Kitu to work with him on a plan to steal “nothing” from Fort Knox. He explains there is no gold there, only nothing. Sill is obscenely wealthy, aspires to be a James Bond type villain, has very odd habits and expectations and Kitu is off and running, along with Trigo and eventually Eigen. This book is laugh out loud funny frequently and the story and characters are engrossing and at times funny as well. And then they are not. Puns and wordplay around “nothing” abound, all clever. And this was just a blast to read. I am a quirky book fan and the improbable fixes Kitu and Eigen get into thanks to this new person in their lives are often funny, sometimes worrisome and here and there, scary. I enjoyed this to the end, although not everyone will love the end. Everett is full of tricks and observations on Black life in America that sneak in with sardonic commentary. Won’t spoil it but whoa!
I LOVED the narrator in this audio version of the book and it was a quick listen. But it would definitely make a good read as well. Not for everybody, but if you like it… you’ll love it.
They Called me Bookworm 