<p>But Scott Hutchins, in "A Working Theory of Love," turns this potentially sterile technological world into an emotionally moving force that helps propel the narrative as it grapples with the stuff of real life.</p><p>Set in San Francisco, the book opens with the narrator, Neill Bassett, uncertain about both work and love. A somewhat forlorn 36-year-old divorcee, he grew up in Arkansas but relocated after college years that were marked by the suicide of his father, a physician who kept such detailed journals that he was dubbed the "Samuel Pepys of the South."</p><p>With Neill's compliance, the observations and reflections from more than 5,000 pages of those journals are now being hard-wired to the brain pan of a machine that has been named "Dr. Bassett." It is a "grandiose linguistic computer project" concocted by an old wizard in the field of artificial intelligence who is assisted by Neill and a programming prodigy from Indonesia.</p><p>As the computer becomes increasingly conversational through text-messaged questions and replies, Neill opens a window to his past and an elusive family history. The father he did not know all that well is re-emerging in Neill's life. At times their text-messaged exchanges become confrontational.</p><p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/scott-hutchins-novel-turns-computer-robotics-into-intriguing-take-on-love-grief-forgiveness/2012/10/01/e101e466-0bc9-11e2-97a7-45c05ef136b2_story.html">Keep reading...</a></p>