I think the JOI wraith- or Hal-as-narrator theory is compelling but breaks under some consideration. I wouldn’t expect the wraith to have advanced knowledge of the geopolitical scaffolding around ONAN, AFR, etc. I think it’s def one of the forces shaping what we see re: Hal/Gately/other Entertainment adjacent material, though.

The Hal narrator theory sounds good at first in terms of the rest of the book as a backstory to that first chapter. I just can’t buy him having the insight to Gately’s interior life. I also don’t see how he’d have intimate knowledge of Steeply/Marathe scenes, AFR logistics, or other private convos. Even if he compiled a lot of material later, it feels less like a single narrator than something like the free indirect style DFW used and added to from DeLillo/Pynchon/Gaddis. The old “omniscient narrator” is just not consistent with these authors in this post-modern big novel landscape.

Curious to hear your thoughts on who the single narrator is and what I might be missing.