In an unspecified time (probably the mid-20th-century)
in an unspecified famous city (probably New York), a conflict
rages between two camps of elevator inspectors: Intuitionists, who
inspect elevators by sensing their vibrations, and Empiricists,
who use traditional inspection methods. The Intuitionists have a
better accuracy rate and are gaining legitimacy.
Obviously, more than intuition is needed to inspect an elevator,
so Whitehead’s book has to be seen as metaphor. Empiricists are
mechanistic, cold representatives of the past, while Intuitionists
are humanistic representatives of the future.
The novel’s protagonist, a young woman named Lila Mae, is an
Intuitionist. She is the first Black and first woman inspector.
Her track record is stellar until an elevator falls just before an
important Elevator Guild election. Was it sabotage?
Hoping to prove herself blameless, Lila Mae goes underground to
search for the mysterious “black box” of Intuitionism’s late
founder, James Fulton. If found, the box might revolutionize not
only elevator construction but also urban life. In the course of
her investigation, Lila Mae discovers that Fulton was an African
American who passed for white.
Whitehead’s first novel can be read as a detective story, a
metaphor, and a meditation on race. It was an impressive debut
from a writer who was only 29.
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