A Working Theory of Love

By page 200 I still didn't care what happened to the narrator, so I stopped reading.

Also, page 4: the rain-washed streets of San Francisco? REALLY? The 4” of rain we get annually in February hardly counts. Now, if he went with urine-washed streets of San Francisco it would be closer to the truth.

1.5 stars, really, but I'll round up.

What is there to say about this disappointing mess? Well, I guess there's that. Hutchins had aspirations, clearly, there was a lot of ambition behind the various storylines surrounding Neill Bassett here, and I really don't think he lived up to them.

To really get into my problems with the book would take 1. Spoilers, and I really hate giving those kind of reviews. 2. Effort, and I simply cannot bring myself to care enough to put in the effort.

I couldn't care about any of these characters – they just weren't that interesting, developed or sympathetic. There were a couple I was tempted to care about, but he just didn't give anyone enough depth to be invested in. A lot of plot issues could've been overcome with a couple of characters I could give a rip about.

The family storyline had the most promise, and fell the furthest short – well, at least the mother storyline. I don't believe his mother, and everything seemed too pat at the end of the book regarding her story.

None of the romance stories worked for me – even the resolution Neill came to at the end seemed more like something imposed on the character by the author than anything that came naturally from the novel. The only evidence we really have to support any feelings Neill has for any of the women here comes from his narration – and doesn't ring true. The evidence isn't to be found in the story, or his action.

The A.I. test story is the most interesting – for the “father”-son interaction. Not for any of the philosophical questions it tries to raise about the nature of humanity, or love, etc. But it's not enough to save this novel.

Not funny, not moving, not terribly interesting. Spare yourself, you have better things to do with your time.

Very impressive for a first novel, but less impressive when the novelist is in their 30s, has a MFA, and spends his time with people like Tobias Wolff on the Stanford campus where he works. Still, this novel is entertaining, touching, surprisingly insightful, and very digestible. Plus, the San Francisco/Marin placement of it all wins me over easily.