Edited by Paul Callaghan and Bill Manhire
VUP, NZ$29.95 | Reviewed by Kate Orgias

WRITER Jo Randerson puts it perfectly: “If this confuses you, don’t think about it too much. It might be easier to understand just by looking at a bowl of sugar.”

Recent Victoria University Press book release Are Angels OK? is a book that, unless you are a physicist, or understand the way their minds/equations work, you are going to look at parts and go “what the!?”, and move on.

But don’t lose hope I tell ya! It’s good.

Not all of it but, by George, there are some real gems in this beautifully constructed book, where a meeting of different minds has produced different, and some not so different works.

Are Angels OK? Is the result of a project initiated and edited by physicist Paul Callaghan and writer Bill Manhire. They decided it would be good fun to give 10 recognised New Zealand writers a menu of subjects based around physics, and then pair them up with particular intellectuals and resources to accompany their chosen challenges.
Why physics? Well 2005, when the project started, was the year of physics, also known as Einstein’s year.

Yes, that crazy haired scientist (I have that timeless image of him poking out his tongue), is still receiving recognition for his wondrous E=mc2 equation (mentioned a few times in the book, as is he and classical music).

Radio New Zealand caught on and chaired a series of lectures by entertaining and informative physicists. They also recorded the writers of this project speaking about their experiences, chaired by radio presenter Kim Hill.

Among the worthy list are author Catherine Chidgey and poet Glenn Colquhoun. Colquhoun said at the launch he was just horny when he wrote his poem in the supermarket – worth a read.

Other contributors include Dylan Horrocks, who has done a superb job with the cover – should you be the type to judge a book by its cover, this is a winner, as is his comic about a rather interesting games creator.

Witi Ihimaera, while talking at the launch about his contribution Dead of Night, seemed more blunt than the others.

He appeared frustrated by the whole process, and indicated that by draft 20, he decided that his collaborators, Howard Carmichael and David Wiltshire, should be given by-lines in the book. “We go down, we go down together,” he conceded.

Laughing, he said, “I still don’t understand some additions they made, and can’t tell if this story is any good or not.”

Well Witi, I don’t know if it counts for much, but I know almost sweet nothing about physics and, apart from the pages with all the strange equations or messages on them (nod, smile, move on), it’s a big black hole I got dragged into for the most part. I enjoyed the range of characters, and the science versus religion discussions are not to be missed.

I took a while to get into Lloyd Jones’ Elsewhen but it is worth the rough seas.

Elizabeth Knox makes you believe there is a hidden scandal about time travel, as well as producing an emotionally gripping story.

Margaret Mahy contributes an ... mmm ... interesting piece called Stuff. I must admit she lost me in parts, but maybe it’s just me.

Vincent O’Sullivan’s www. And other poems goes from a "homage to science”, passes through a poem he rightly calls “Light Relief”, and ends with a poem I enjoyed called “Matters for future attention”.

Chris Price, given the title piece Are Angels OK?: An Essay, takes the reader on a journey, quoting Einstein and Chaplin.

Hers is a gutsy read that is kind to the eyes and mind while giving you a lot to think about.

Comedian Jo Randerson’s contribution alone makes this book a worthy investment.

Her writing is easy to read, punchy and her relationship descriptions make me wonder if she could write the next Bridget Jones Diary.

She aims direct fire at Destiny Church (the fundamentalist Christian movement founded in New Zealand by self-appointed Bishop Brian Tamaki).

“There are two choices when coming across difference: to understand and reconcile, or to judge and eliminate,” she says. “One is the way of acceptance and embrace, the other is the way of the fence, the way of judgement and rejection. Jack Spratt and his wife had a good system going. Destiny Church does not.”

On a side, connected to the book is a, what I suppose you could call, a panel chat. They put this on for the book launch a couple of weeks ago at Wellington's Paramount Theatre.

Now if you have heard the writer talking on National Radio about the experiences they had while working on their bits of the book, then you missed nothing.

And to say the least, I was a little disappointed.

I laughed and giggled politely, umm’d and ahh’d a bit too but, besides Callaghan (a genius worth listening to), and physicist Tony Signal, who was very entertaining as he read a poem (repeatedly saying how wonderful writer Glenn Colquhoun is, and Glenn returning the compliments), there were no physicists in sight.

I enjoyed listening to all the experiences, but I ended up craving more.

I wanted to hear more about the processes, and collaborations, I wanted to hear from the physicists.

Re: the book though, I would like to say job well done, game well played and even I (someone scared of numbers and science), am up for a second read.