{"product_id":"9781101596005","title":"A Working Theory of Love: A Novel","description":"Settled back into the San Francisco singles scene following the  implosion of his young marriage just months after the honeymoon, Neill  Bassett is going\u003cbr\u003ethrough the motions. His carefully modulated routine, however, is soon  disrupted in ways he can’t dismiss with his usual nonchalance.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen Neill’s father committed suicide ten years ago, he left behind  thousands of pages of secret journals, journals that are stunning in  their detail, and, it must be said, their complete banality. But their  spectacularly quotidian details, were exactly what artificial  intelligence company Amiante Systems was looking for, and Neill was able  to parlay them into a job, despite a useless degree in business  marketing and absolutely no experience in computer science. He has spent\u003cbr\u003ethe last two years inputting the diaries into what everyone hopes will  become the world’s first sentient computer. Essentially, he has been  giving it language—using his father’s words. Alarming to Neill—if not to  the other employees of Amiante—the experiment seems to be working. The  computer actually appears to be gaining awareness and, most  disconcerting of all, has started asking questions about Neill’s  childhood.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAmid this psychological turmoil, Neill meets Rachel. She was meant to be  a one-night stand, but Neill is unexpectedly taken with her and\u003cbr\u003ethe possibilities she holds. At the same time, he remains preoccupied by  unresolved feelings for his ex-wife, who has a talent for appearing at  the most unlikely and unfortunate times. When Neill discovers a missing  year in the diaries—a year that must hold some secret to his parents’  marriage and perhaps even his father’s suicide—everything Neill thought  he knew about his past comes into question, and every move forward feels  impossible to make.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith a lightness of touch that belies pitch-perfect emotional control,  Scott Hutchins takes us on an odyssey of love, grief, and reconciliation  that shows us how, once we let go of the idea that we’re trapped by our  own sad histories—our childhoods, our bad decisions, our  miscommunications with those we love—we have the chance to truly be  free. \u003ci\u003eA Working Theory of Love\u003c\/i\u003e marks the electrifying debut of a prodigious new talent.","brand":"Penguin Publishing Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47072701710576,"sku":"9781101596005","price":5.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781101596005_p0.jpg?v=1763688515","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781101596005","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}