The Intuitionist

What if elevator inspectors had their own influential guild? Not science fiction, not fantasy, and not even alternative history. Just a riveting, delightful, challenging ‘what if’ that does not fit in a box. In a shaft. In a skyscraper. When I first heard about this book, I thought elevator inspection might be, let’s say, resistant to novel-sized interrogation.

To this, I now say, behold the umbrella that fits in the purse or the king-sized mattress that arrives in a toddler-sized box. This book unfolds and puffs up deliberately and warmly, and eventually, you find yourself curled up, reading about the… show more.

My last pick is Colson Whitehead’s first novel, a book that, for me, was a revelation. Set in an unnamed City chockablock with skyscrapers (implicitly New York), in an unspecified time period (implicitly the mid-20th century), it is the story of the City’s first Black female elevator inspector, Lila Mae Watson.

In the book, the City’s elevator inspectors are split into two warring schools: The Intuitionists and the Empiricists, and when an elevator that Lila has inspected goes into freefall, she must try to clear her name, as well as that of her school. This novel—a propulsive page-turner thick with… show more.

This is another read-again novel, an ingenious plot device wrapped in an urban fantasy that sends up class and racial divides.

I couldn’t resist the philosophical premise Whitehead pitched: elevator inspectors at war over classic mechanical repair versus repair by holistic intuition. It reminded me of nights spent in my college dorm room, getting high with my friends and imagining alternate universes.

As with the other books, I wasn’t only moved by the speculative elements but also by the way Whitehead weaves humor and irony into the storyline. For once, I didn’t see the plot twist coming—at least the first… show more.