Bewilderment

Bewilderment usually means confusing or unclear. In the novel by Richard Powers, Bewilderment means going back into nature to heal your tormented soul. Robin Byrne had an aggressive episode in his third grade classroom. This isn't his first melt down. The school recommends he see a psychiatrist so that he can have a diagnosis. His father, Theo, wants to avoid all that so he takes him from their home in Madison, Wisconsin, for a week of camping in the Smokey Mountains where he went on his honeymoon many years ago. Both Theo and Robin are mourning the death of Allyssa, Robin's mother, who died in a car crash two years ago. Robin is a very troubled child and things seem to be getting worse. Theo is barely keeping up at his job at the University of Wisconsin as a professor of astrobiology. To entertain Robin before going to sleep Theo makes up stories about various planets and gives him details whether the imaginary planet could sustain life. Theo turns to a coworker in the psychology department for help. At this colleague's suggestion, Robin is enrolled in a experimental study  on neurofeedback. Robin enters a MRI machine and is given prompts to try and change the image in front of him by thinking. The neurofeedback helps Robin regulate his emotions until the experimental study is suddenly shut down. The novel was very interesting. I got a little lost in the descriptions of other planets but I really enjoyed the scenery of the forests both in Wisconsin and in the Smokey Mountains.