Top Shelf explores literature, music, and consumable delicacies that have made it to, well, the Top Shelf.
Today’s issue includes a spectacular pairing featuring a longtime favorite, providing an intellectually and mathematically stimulating reading experience.
Improbable
Like many adults, I suffer from the realization that my performance as a reader has declined significantly since the final days of my adolescence. For me, the light at the end of the tunnel was Improbable by Adam Fawer. My whole life this novel has been lurking in the background; on the bookshelf at my childhood home, a source of entertainment for my dear father during lengthy swim or volleyball practices, discussed amongst my parents’ curious and intellectual friends.
I picked it up a few years ago during a summer vacation back in the motherland; I put very little thought into it. Without giving much away, the first chapter opens with some fairly descriptive paragraphs that set the scene, heavily focusing on unpleasant odor and its nauseating effects on our main character - I believe this is the reason why my best friend had to stop reading and return my copy of the book.
Reading that chapter for the very first time, balancing my weight while holding onto a subway rail as I made my way underground, the nasty and smelly description of the atmosphere was perfectly fitting. My cousin found another copy somewhere in the house and started reading with me the next day. I finished this book in a parked car in the middle of a hot summer day because I physically couldn’t walk out and make it back home to enjoy the last chapter in a cool, comfortable living room.
Action as a genre usually comes to mind in the context of movies and television, but if I had to pick an action novel it would be this one. The plot checks off a lot of boxes for me: science fiction, government conspiracies, gambling, collective consciousness, mathematics, sibling bonds, evil scientists, etc.
This book pairs perfectly with a certain concoction I’ve been preparing in the mornings: peppermint green tea with just enough honey to compensate for the slight bitterness and a sprinkle of turmeric, chilled and served over ice. If you can handle more caffeine than that, go for it. You will need your complete, undivided attention for this book.
For similar reasons I suggest you make use of your reading glasses and keep some school supplies nearby; once the statistical explanations come in you’re gonna need some scrap paper and a calculator. And for reasons I can’t quite put my finger on, add some 90’s vaporwave to the mix. You’ll be done in a few short days.
See the rest of the Top Shelf issues right here.