Relativity by Ben Adams is a gripping exploration of friendship, dreams, aspirations and finding oneself, taking readers on an exhilarating journey of three middle-aged men who are on a quest to dedicate their lives to their ridiculous dreams. The genius Harry Erickson is hopeful about his paper about Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity. Dennis Drysdale has a live-in partner but finds himself in love with a woman he knew from high school. Timothy Henderson wants to take his passion for video games to the next level. An unexpected turn of events sets the friends out on a road trip to Chicago and pursue their individual dreams. This book is a tale of nostalgia, regret, identity, acceptance, and the transformative power of hope and belief brims with poignant emotion and asks important questions about the real cost of being true to one’s true self, the burden of guilt and shame, and self-acceptance.
The characters are brilliantly developed. The writing is vibrant and unsophisticated. The narration was great. There are some flaws in the book but those are visible only to a very seasoned reader. Discussions which comprise topics such as sports, bad marriages, science, theories, the current education system, psychology and history, all make the book more appealing. If turned into a movie or a web series it would be a blockbuster.
With many twists and turns, the book comes out to be fascinating and exciting to read and an appropriate nomination for a 2023 pushcart prize.
