"Schr?dinger's Ball" By Adam Felber Random House 226 pages Grade: A-
Schr?dinger's cat ranks among the greatest of geeky punchlines. Of all the thought experiments modern physics has provided, none has been as celebrated, mis-explained and mocked as this hypothetical, unseen feline who exists in a state of simultaneous life and death, until he is observed. Well, it's a bit more complicated than that.
One reason to read Adam Felber's first novel, "Schr?dinger's Ball," is the physics jokes. Erwin Schr?dinger is in fact a major (although not central) character - or at least a very strange version of the physicist, prone to explaining how people misunderstood his cat metaphor, attempting to explain the basic tenants of string theory to strangers and even selling molecular snake oil, all while mooching off of a nameless, first-person plural host.
And this is a mere subplot. The main focus of the novel is four friends in their mid-twenties: Deb, a charming nymphomaniac; Grant, a computer programmer who quietly lusts for Deb; Arlene, who begins the book moping about her cat's death; and Johnny, the most charismatic of the group, who has been acting strangely and who may or may not have accidentally killed himself a few hours ago. There's also a pair of mildly insane homeless people, a rat arbitrarily named Lester and the survivalist, self-proclaimed President of Montana slipped into the mix.
If this sounds a little manic, that's a good impression. Felber (best known for his role on National Public Radio's weekend quiz show, "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!") has packed this book with gleeful madness, from a history of the 16th century to a recap of the plot in the form of a 1940s cinema newsreel. It's not always outright wacky, and even in times of relative sanity, the dialogue pops and the prose sizzles. Even those bits that should be moody by all rights, such as when Grant pines for Deb, are not only surprisingly engaging but downright charming. The pages fly by rapidly but the plot takes its time, slowly unfolding. And, it must be added, there's a fair amount of shagging (the jacket makes this explicit), but Felber's treatment of sex is often funny - and never in an easy, "American Pie" sense.
The riskiest part of juggling all of these disparate elements is the moment where they all must at last converge. This is a novel and not a collection of short stories. All of the parts must build to a semi-coherent whole, or it fails. There is no failure on this front. While saying too much would spoil the end, suffice it to say the novel's climax is gripping. The random objects and situations Felber introduces come together in an event that is as surprising as it is utterly mundane.
And that, to an extent, is the point. Schr?dinger, in one of his many monologues (which are equally intriguing and exhausting) explains to his nameless host that the entire world is statistically impossible, a long string of invisible chains of cause and effect which can only be seen in retrospect. The cause and effect is readily apparent in hindsight, in such an intricate way as to make one wonder if it's all random chance or if the basis of string theory implies that there is some invisible, interconnected pattern to all existence.
There is a real philosophical depth to be found here. But not in a way that drags the book down. Felber never loses sight of the characters and the theoretical physics that make "Schr?dinger's Ball" a book that anyone can enjoy, regardless of their knowledge of quantum mechanics.
