Theo Byrne is a professor of astrobiology who is raising his nine-year old son Robin by himself after his wife Alyssa died in a car accident a few years before. The relationship between Theo and Robin is sometimes fraught, mainly due to the challenges of bringing up a child identified as being ‘on the spectrum’. Robin is highly intelligent and deeply connected to nature, but also emotionally unstable and socially awkward. When school administrators push him to put Robin on mind-altering drugs, Theo opts for the experimental alternative of decoded neurofeedback sessions that allow Robin to tap into the recorded empathic patterns of his mother’s brain. This treatment is spectacularly successful in changing Robin’s behavior until government officials shut down the laboratory, which leads to his sad and ultimately tragic regression.

As Richard Powers notes in a Foreword, Bewilderment is strongly influenced by the story Flowers for Algernon that the author read as child. Indeed, this novel can be viewed as an updating of that classic fable, which focuses on, among other things, how we teach our children to process information about the world around them. It also advances Powers’ recent agenda, begun with his masterful The Overstory, to examine the damage that mankind is inflicting on the planet with its hubris and willful ignorance. This is also the author’s most overtly political novel to date, with a Twitter-obsessed, environmentally insensitive, and reactionary president conveniently serving as the ultimate villain in the tale. While unnamed, there is little doubt who Powers had in mind when creating this character.

I found this to be a deeply affecting story that was also quite enlightening in terms of the applications and ethics of the new science it explores. Powers is an extremely thoughtful writer and his descriptions of the flora and fauna of this world, as well as his imaginings of what life might look like on other worlds, were remarkable. My only real criticism of the novel would be that the main characters were not always quite believable—Theo was one-dimensional and far too clueless while the swings in Robin’s emotional state and mental prowess were too dramatic—and they served mainly as devices to deliver the message the story needed to impart. Still, Bewilderment was book that this fan of the author enjoyed, even if it might end up being an acquired taste for other readers.

I REALLY REALLYY wanted to love this book, as I appreciate Richard Powers' talent as a writer and loved The Overstory. I simply couldn't get into it., Sorry Richard!!! I am going to go ahead and give it 4 stars for the simple fact that I think he is a genius.