As She Climbed Across the Table is a 1997 science fiction novel by the American writer Jonathan Lethem.

It is a satirical story set on the fictional campus of Beauchamp University in Northern California.

Particle physicist Alice Coombs rooms with narrator Philip Engstrand, an anthropologist researching conflicts between and within disciplines.

The novel deals thematically with many of the philosophical issues pertaining to modern quantum physics, as well as human interaction with artificial intelligence.

In an attempt to impress Alice, Philip breaks up the protest by giving a speech about how a single cat being destroyed is minimal and their efforts would better spent on larger problems in the world.

He also claims a portion of Lack's time for himself, his graduate students, and an Italian physics team headed by Carmo Braxia.

He says that because of the strong anthropic principle, a universe cannot exist if there isn't conscious life to observe it.

With his new knowledge, and in a state of drunkenness, Philip sets out to be the first lover in history to ever have a definitive answer as to whether or not he is loved back.

Glen Engel-Cox points out that instead of like a traditional science fiction, focusing on a "driven scientist in that endless pursuit of knowledge", As She Climbed Across the Table focuses on "someone like us [a science fiction reader], intrigued by the type but not one of them himself.

[5] On November 12, 2020, Michel Gondry is set to direct the film adaptation with Joe Penhall writing the script for Amazon Studios.