A satirical, self-aware love letter to writing and the human mess it maps. Rhander Prates’ A Brilliant Nothingness is a genre-bending work that reads like a mirror held up to language itself: part memoir, part manifesto, part fever-dream.
This book traces the writer’s creation as creation traces the writer — mixing prose, poetry, romance and philosophy to ask a single stubborn question: what does it mean to write?
Quick Look
Author: Rhander Prates
Title: A Brilliant Nothingness: PROTOTYPE EDITION
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
Print length: 510 pages
Publication date: August 27, 2025
Buy: Amazon
Author website: https://www.abstractscholar.com/
Instagram: Link
A work that insists on being itself, A Brilliant Nothingness is a comedic masterwork and a philosophical experiment. The “plot” is the act of composition; the conflict is existential and intimate. Along the way, the reader encounters tenderness, absurdity, erotic reverie, and philosophic asides — all aimed at one aim: to show how language remakes a life and how a life remakes language.
Author Q&A with Rhander Prates
Q: What is your book about and what inspired you to write this book?
A: This is always the hardest question to answer, because in a sense, the book is about “nothing” and about life, in general. It may be a pretentious answer, but much like life, it can’t really be described. Although this is technically nonfiction, it follows cues from literary fiction, and takes the sort of concept of a story without a strong plot to its most extreme conclusions. If anything, the book is about itself.
Q: When did you start writing, and what made you decide to publish this book?
A: In earnest, my literary dreams probably sprouted from a class I took in 11th grade (AP English with Ms Pam Felcher, in Los Angeles). Not only was the teacher great, I loved the subject matter and environment, being surrounded by intelligent, well-read people. However, I was in a sense always into art and writing, and enjoyed other creative writing assignments in school, before even the point outlined above. I also wanted to create my own graphic novels, and did write a few growing up.
I decided to publish this book because I essentially had to. I don’t know where it came from, but it begged to be given life and read.
Q: Which character was the most fun—or most challenging—to write, and why?
A: There aren’t really many characters, but I would say “Marie.” I would like to give the reason, but I feel like, in a sense, that’s spoiling the book. So I won’t, sorry!
Q: What themes or messages do you hope readers take away from your book?
A: That anything is possible. Whatever can be imagined can be created, and even sometimes what cannot be imagined.
Q: Were there any real-life experiences that influenced your story or characters?
A: The book is nonfiction, so that goes without saying!
Q: What question do you wish readers would ask you about the book?
A: Is this really the greatest thing ever written?
(Of course!)
Q: Do you have a favorite quote or moment from the book you’d like to share?
A: Is it too immodest to say I could pick too many quotes to even fit here? I love quoting from this book! I’ll pick one quote each, representing the best aspects of the book (Very profound, very funny, very romantic)
“To write a memoir, one has to traverse the microcosm of one’s life, which, if one were not careful, could lead into the conundrum of re-living the macrocosm, an infinite loop of self-referential becoming.”
“So this guy’s just walking down the battlefield, flapping his fucking arms in front of himself, with no distinguishable pattern but a definite style, sloppy and haphazardous, a palm hitting a bicep, elbows all over; his arms sporadically cross, he smacks himself in the chin. But all around him, all the soldiers, the battlefield packed, they’re blowing up left and right, random wormholes and vortexes in the distance, in perfect sync with his flapping. Total obliteration, Calm Destroyer. Everyone is dead. He is Godlike.”
“In all your flawed epitome
You are at once both the battery and the charger
And if you were lost on a road abandoned and abyssal, scared and shivering in the dark, up and up would I reach and rip the stars out of the seams of the sky, laughing as my hands burned to blissful ash
And if I were once broken, a statue splayed against the splintered rage of life unfulfilled, you are at once both the sculptor and the love holding still my fragments, glowing gold molten
And if she were tired of everything she had, on an ethereal steed would I encircle the cosmos, returning clad in the gleaming black armor of death, presenting in the palm of my hand the most luminous planet I found”
Q: What was the biggest challenge in writing or publishing it?
A: Honestly, it was the thought that I could hurt somebody with the words. For a long time I didn’t consider publishing it, because I felt like it could damage the mindstate of somebody if they read it at the wrong time. Some parts can be pretty intense. But in the end I realized I was doing a greater harm by withholding its greatness and transformative power from a wider audience.
Secondly, dealing with the intimacy and exposure of such a personal book being out in the world.
Q: What’s next for you as a writer?
A: I plan to publish a literary sci-fi novel, although honestly, it’s an erotic work and has to either be made suitable for human consumption, or else some other solution will have to be found! I’m also working on a very ambitious and profound graphic novel (writing and illustrating). There may be other, smaller projects along the way.
What Readers Will Take Away
- The creative self as process and paradox
- Playful, philosophical inquiry into meaning, authorship, and identity
- An experiment in form: hybrid prose, poetry, and meta-narrative
- Courage to publish intimate, risky work and to let language be both weapon and balm
Perfect for readers of: experimental memoirs, metafiction, philosophical essays, and anyone who enjoys books that make you think about why you read — and why you write.
About the Author
Rhander Prates is a Brazilian-born writer, illustrator, martial artist, game designer, philosopher, yogi and lover. He is based out of La Crescenta, CA, near Los Angeles.
Buy: Amazon
We love to read and explore a wide range of genres, including contemporary and historical fiction, mysteries, thrillers, nonfiction, and memoirs. If you’d like us to review your book, feel free to reach out—we’d be happy to hear from you!