A novel wherein Casi, a young NYC public defender and son of Colombian immigrants, will suffer his first loss at trial then seek to reduce the stin...
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May 01, 2011
Steve
rated it: 
10JAN10. Well! January isn't even half over and I think I've already found my favorite book of 2010. I'm precisely 1/6 the way through A Naked Singularity and it has shoved all my other reading to the back burner. I'm having as much fun reading this as I had reading Infinte Jest, and/or The Gold Bug Variations, and/or The Lost Scrapbook*. An assload of fun, in other words. (*De La Pava's novel reminds me of Evan Dara's The Lost Scrapbook in another way. It's self-published and out-of-nowhere and
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Aug 02, 2010
Infinite
rated it:
See my review at Infinite Tasks of Philosophy.
Like a number of others who were internettedly active during Infinite Summer, I received a copy of a self-published novel along with a very nice, personalized note, referring not only to my work on IJ but also my philosophical writings on imprisonment and science fiction. The novel is A Naked Singularity, written by Sergio De La Pava and “crafted” via Xlibris in 2008. Not only is it a worthwhile and entertaining read, it was perhaps the f More...
Like a number of others who were internettedly active during Infinite Summer, I received a copy of a self-published novel along with a very nice, personalized note, referring not only to my work on IJ but also my philosophical writings on imprisonment and science fiction. The novel is A Naked Singularity, written by Sergio De La Pava and “crafted” via Xlibris in 2008. Not only is it a worthwhile and entertaining read, it was perhaps the f More...
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Nov 13, 2010
Ginny
rated it:
This book is a find, like a diamond in the rough. A gem, something you can live inside while you're reading the whole thing, and now that's it's over, I'm just wandering around my house like a crazy person looking for anything else to read that could be as fun, but not finding it...
Seriously, Scott Brian Wilson, who recommended that I try this book on the Quarterly Conversation was right: http://quarterlyconversation.com/a-naked... "There is a growing body of evidence that it is a More...
Seriously, Scott Brian Wilson, who recommended that I try this book on the Quarterly Conversation was right: http://quarterlyconversation.com/a-naked... "There is a growing body of evidence that it is a More...
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Jul 19, 2011
Adam
rated it: 
This is really good. Some of the boxing stuff is OH SHIT good, or would be were it a little longer. There's a safeness I'm not sure about. I'm not done though, so we'll see.
but there's this: De La Pava's style is remarkably similar to DFW's. I'll post some examples when I do a final review, but believe me when I say it's remarkably similar. IMO DFW's style is an amazing, precise thing which moves through text in a way that makes sense to me on the level of how I think about stuff, o More...
but there's this: De La Pava's style is remarkably similar to DFW's. I'll post some examples when I do a final review, but believe me when I say it's remarkably similar. IMO DFW's style is an amazing, precise thing which moves through text in a way that makes sense to me on the level of how I think about stuff, o More...
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Dec 08, 2009
Jason
rated it:
(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)
Uh-oh, I thought when first receiving the 700-page, print-on-demand A Naked Singularity from Sergio De La Pava -- another self-published stream-of-consciousness epic for me to slog my way through. And the reason I had that reaction of course was because of a growing realization I've been More...
Uh-oh, I thought when first receiving the 700-page, print-on-demand A Naked Singularity from Sergio De La Pava -- another self-published stream-of-consciousness epic for me to slog my way through. And the reason I had that reaction of course was because of a growing realization I've been More...
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Jan 04, 2010
Victoria
rated it:
Too much boxing and a couple of typos are the only flaws in this self-published masterpiece about a crime caper gone bad.
Told through the perspective of Casi, a public defender, the story jumps from Richard Price-like dialog to legal argument to discussion on the existence of God to the role of family and the aforementioned too much boxing. Sarcasm, eruditon and pop culture round out the mix. Hate to finish this one at the beginning of the year, as all else will be a hard act to follow.
Told through the perspective of Casi, a public defender, the story jumps from Richard Price-like dialog to legal argument to discussion on the existence of God to the role of family and the aforementioned too much boxing. Sarcasm, eruditon and pop culture round out the mix. Hate to finish this one at the beginning of the year, as all else will be a hard act to follow.
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Sep 19, 2011
Phil
rated it:
I don't normally bother to write reviews, because who's going to read 'em? and shouldn't I think of the opportunity cost? But I will argue, without a doubt or second thought or moment of hesitation, that A Naked Singularity is a masterpiece.
That's all I'll write. It's not so much a review as it is endorsement, but fuck... nothing I could write would do it justice.
That's all I'll write. It's not so much a review as it is endorsement, but fuck... nothing I could write would do it justice.
Nov 17, 2010
Stan
rated it:
A very funny book. It owes a lot to David Foster Wallace and Infinite Jest (this novel uses boxing, rather than tennis, throughout), but it certainly stands on it's own. At 680 pages, it takes some dedication, but it's a good read.
Dec 07, 2011
Ashley
rated it:
The surrealism of Jonathan Lethem's Chronic City, the intelligence of any of DFW's writings, the absurdity of the best of Pynchon - how in the world did this 689 masterpiece slip past the mainstream publishing world? Sergio De La Pava serves up moments of hilarity and heartbreak, gritty crime and boxing (if DFW can do tennis, De La Pava can do boxing!) scenarios, next to moments of the macabre and bizarre. It builds in pace and texture to a nail-biting conclusion by which time we're sucked into
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Aug 14, 2011
Dan
rated it: 
Ok, I guess I'll be the one to say this book didn't grab me the way it did everyone else. At first, yes, the first chapter was pretty amazing, and even through most of the first part I was regularly interested even if not as blown away as everyone else. But somewhere in there I just started getting a bit bored, and it wound up taking me a long time to get through the last half, with my estimation of the novel's worth decreasing by the page. By the time I finished, I was just relieved it was over
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Feb 28, 2011
Jul 28, 2010
Dec 05, 2011
Joe
rated it:
An enjoyable and interesting read. A mixture of the workings of the crminal court system, philosophy, boxing history and the pursuit of crminal perfection among many other topics.
Jul 05, 2011
René
rated it:
Probably the novel of the decade.
We interviewed De La Pava (in Spanish, at the request of the author) here:
http://hermanocerdo.com/2011/07/%C2%BFdo...
We interviewed De La Pava (in Spanish, at the request of the author) here:
http://hermanocerdo.com/2011/07/%C2%BFdo...
Jan 14, 2011
Mauricio
rated it:
La mejor novela que he leído últimamente.
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