The Hypothetical Man

The collaboration of Maliszewski (Prayer and Parable) and Weil, a pseudonym, yields an intellectually frothy collection of nine stories laid out as a series of loopy dialogues between two colleagues known as “A” and “B.” (There is also an “S,” but he makes a single cameo appearance.) Each tale begins as an anecdote, but soon detours into multiple digressions and philosophical musing of a high order, with a peppering of both high and low culture. In “Caldera,” for example, B begins by confessing to some embarrassing behavior while he was in Ohio that A has probably heard about already. The long and tangled explanation includes numerous detours, and references to SpongeBob SquarePants, Nepalese violence, and peripheral characters with odd names including Vlox, Quilch, and Gyula. “Preplanning” begins as a meta discussion of the redundancy of its title, then digresses into discussion of goats, dead relatives, and the Breeders’ Cup, among other things. By far, the title story is the strongest; it begins as a mystery surrounding an envelope but expands to involve multiple envelopes, chair-making, a dog, and an untrustworthy fellow named Shernfavler. The authors display an almost palpable relish in their extended literary jousts. Readers with a similar sensibility will blissfully wallow in these elaborate yarns. [em](Mar.) [/em]

This review has been updated to include the pseudonym used by one of the book's authors.