Bewilderment
A heartrending new novel from the Pulitzer Prize–winning and #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Overstory.
The astrobiologist Theo Byrne searches for life throughout the cosmos while single-handedly raising his unusual nine-year-old, Robin, following the death of his wife. Robin is a warm, kind boy who spends hours painting elaborate pictures of endangered animals. He’s also about to be expelled from third grade for smashing his friend in the face. As his son grows more troubled, Theo hopes to keep him off psychoactive drugs. He learns of an experimental neurofeedback treatment to bolster Robin’s emotional control, one that involves training the boy on the recorded patterns of his mother’s brain…
With its soaring descriptions of the natural world, its tantalizing vision of life beyond, and its account of a father and son’s ferocious love, Bewilderment marks Richard Powers’s most intimate and moving novel. At its heart lies the question: How can we tell our children the truth about this beautiful, imperiled planet?
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Reviews and Comments
The story centers on a highly sensitive boy and his father following the death of the family’s mother. The father’s attempt to keep his son away from chemical medications leads to an unconventional form of therapy and its consequences. The surrounding political climate, led by a familiar-seeming president, wreaks havoc on society, including the lives of the boy and his father. The story is sad and bleak. Just like reality. Given my current state of mind, this might not have been the best time to read this story. But still, it’s a good and thought-provoking work.