Short story collections are difficult to rate because as a package, the book has to work as well, if not better, than a novel. At the same time, each story is judged on its own merit. The Theory of Light and Matter works as a package, thematically, and eight of the ten stories blew me away. I was particularly drawn into Azul, River Dog and Coyotes because these stories are so unique, unpredictable and subtlely profound. Moreover, it was in these three stories that I found the narrator to be most vulnerable and inclusive. Oddly, I didn't find the book's namesake to be the strongest story at all, not because it wasn't extremely well-written but because I've read the intellectual love story, older teacher, younger student, so many times the the very concept seems cliche unless it's done with more complexity (this narrator seemed too simplistic). All in all, however, I was blown away, and I look forward to reading more of Porter's work.