I just wrapped up listening to the 27-hour audiobook of A Naked Singularity, a wildly distinctive and audacious novel that initially faced rejection from nearly a hundred publishers. Undeterred, Sergio De La Pava boldly self-published his sprawling 700-page debut in 2008. The gamble paid off: the book gained widespread acclaim and, by 2012, found a prestigious new home with the University of Chicago Press.
The rejection slips make perfect sense. Sure, Sergio De La Pava’s novel features Casi, a sharp-witted 24-year-old lawyer as the first-person narrator, and yes, there’s a caper brimming with drugs and millions of dollars. But let’s be clear—this is no John Grisham-style legal thriller. Not even in the same universe. The caper itself doesn’t so much take center stage as first flicker to life on page 226 and then weave through as one of several threads contained within the sprawling 400+ pages that follow.
Why write such a first novel? As the author himself stated, "I cannot accept any diminution in the aesthetic value of the work in trade for greater social utility." In other words, Sergio De La Pava refused to compromise his artistic vision and literary expression to gain approval from the publishing world or the public. And what lies at the core of his vision? He makes his stance quite clear: "Writing a novel, creating art in any way, is a protest against nullity. It’s a protest against silence, absence, death, finality. It’s just a way of protesting against the fact that it all ends."
Viewed in this way, A Naked Singularity qualifies as colossal protest, a novel where we witness Casi's legal battles, his scathing critique of the US legal system (especially in its treatment of poor non-whites), his relationships with his family and friends and acquaintances outside of work, his reflections on morality and the nature of the universe, along with subjects as diverse as the New York City blackout and the history of a boxing champ from Puerto Rico. And, of course, there's everything involved in the caper. However, and this is a critically important point, what will keep a reader eagerly turning the pages is not only the subject and topics covered but . . . fanfare with trumpets . . . narrative voice. Sergio De La Pava has done a masterly job in creating Casi's storytelling voice, an energetic narrator who shares a great deal with the author: he's the son of immigrants from Colombia; he's a public defender in New York City; he's exceptionally bright, well-educated, and articulate.
I could include a number of direct quotes to serve as examples and underscore this point, but I will not. Rather, I will keep my review short with two concluding notes. Firstly, I enjoyed this doorstop since it has a similar NYC Big Apple pulse and vibe like those novels written by Colin Harrison. We feel we're right there with the men and women, on the streets and in buildings, restaurants, and subways of New York. Secondly, the nature of a naked singularity (a concept from physics and astronomy) is eventually explained, and the author concludes his novel with this concept in combination with a hefty dose of Latin American magic realism (an author from Colombia just can't help himself), a marvelous macaw of an ending.
A Naked Singularity is a remarkable achievement. I'm looking forward to reading other novels by this talented author.
Sergio De La Pava, born 1971
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