A double-negative in a sentence performs in my mind a kind of fascinating transformation of meaning; ostensibly the sentence works just the same without it, but practically there is something else, a différance that drives the meaning around and into a corner.

Anyways, Wellness is not without insight. It talks about the foibles and follies of life in the 21st century with greater attention and awareness than many novels, yet at its core is a kind of navel-gazing nihilism that I just don’t really jive with. At times the novel repudiates the nihilism, holding it at a distance and making fun of it, and I could understand people getting the opposite message out of the book - that is what it is trying to convey! I just don’t think it conveyed the opposite all that well, leaving a bit of a hollow core.

Otherwise it is an entertaining and well-crafted story, a kind of light Pynchonian touch in the weave of conspiracy and paranoia. I think Nathan Hill falls into my list of writers who are solidly Pretty Good, definitely worth taking a look at.