A Clean Sweep

by David Berlinski

When San Francisco private eye Aaron Asherfeld is hired to track down a missing businessman, his investigation takes on a kinky dimension as he meets a host of characters from the cityOCOs sleazy underside."

414 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

David Berlinski is a senior fellow in the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture.

Recent articles by Berlinski have been prominently featured in Commentary, Forbes ASAP, and the Boston Review. Two of his articles, “On the Origins of the Mind” (November 2004) and “What Brings a World into Being” (March 2001), have been anthologized in The Best American Science Writing 2005, edited by Alan Lightman (Harper Perennial), and The Best American Science Writing 2002, edited by Jesse Cohen, respectively.

Berlinski received his Ph.D. in philosophy from Princeton University and was later a postdoctoral fellow in mathematics and molecular biology at Columbia University. He has authored works on systems analysis, differential topology, theoretical biology, analytic philosophy, and the philosophy of mathematics, as well as three novels. He has also taught philosophy, mathematics and English at Stanford, Rutgers, the City University of New York and the Université de Paris. In addition, he has held research fellowships at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria and the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques. He lives in Paris.

Reviews

[John Rossitto · Rating 3 out of 5]

different then Devils delusion

Having enjoyed Devils Delusion, I was looking for that level of craftsmanship. Average fiction story with ok character development and plot. Not on the same level as his other work. Reasonable read.

[Elizabeth]

Not good.

[Sandy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just awful. The book was racist, homophobic, you name it. Presumably, this was supposed to be just the protagonist's viewpoint, but there's no way that someone could write this (and it did not appear to be written in any sort of satiric way) and not be expressing his own worldview. Second, it was a stupid attempt to mimic old school detective stories - Chandler, et. al. The sarcastic, wisecracking detective. But it didn't work - the "wisecracks" were just stupid, not even amusing in a sarcastic way, and continual, even in completely inappropriate situations. Finally, the book just didn't make a lot of sense. The eventual solution had to be explained at the end, because it didn't make any sense at all without elaborate explanation. Characters and events popped up, with no particular reason for being there - except to give the author a chance to express more negative views about pretty much everyone, particularly racial and ethnic groups other than WASPs.