As She Climbed Across the Table Summary
Jonathan Lethem

As She Climbed Across the Table Overview

As She Climbed Across the Table is a novel by Jonathan Lethem. The protagonist is Philip Engstrand, a professor in the anthropology department of an unnamed university. He is in a loving relationship with Alice Coombs, a researcher in the university’s physics department. One day, university physicists manage to create an unprecedented scientific phenomenon that seems to be a selective space-time void. Alice refers to the anomaly as Lack and soon becomes convinced that it has intelligence and a personality. Alice even begins to fall intensely in love with Lack, causing Philip to desperately try to win back Alice’s love. The novel explores themes of academia, dependency, reality, perception, and curiosity.