The Atmospherians

A Novel

The Atmospherians
Alex McElroy
Our Price:
NZ$ 35.00
Trade Paperback
h210 x 135mm - 320pg
8 Feb 2022 US
International import eta 7-19 days
9781982158323
Out Of Stock
Currently no stock in-store, stock is sourced to your order
A "dazzling" (Bryan Washington, author of Lot) and brilliantly satirical debut novel for fans of Women Talking and Red Clocks about two best friends-a disgraced influencer and a struggling actor-who form The Atmosphere, a cult designed to reform problematic men. Sasha Marcus was once the epitome of contemporary success: an internet sensation, social media darling, and a creator of a high profile wellness brand for women. But a confrontation with an abusive troll has taken a horrifying turn, and now she' s at rock bottom: canceled and doxxed online, fired from her waitress job and fortressed in her apartment while men' s rights protestors rage outside. All that once glittered now condemns. Sasha confides in her oldest childhood friend, Dyson-a failed actor with a history of body issues-who hatches a plan for Sasha to restore her reputation by becoming the face of his new business venture, The Atmosphere: a rehabilitation community for men. Based in an abandoned summer camp and billed as a workshop for job training, it is actually a rigorous program designed to rid men of their toxic masculinity and heal them physically, emotionally, and socially. Sasha has little choice but to accept. But what horrors await her as the resident female leader of a crew of washed up, desperate men? And what exactly does Dyson want? Explosive and wickedly funny, this "Fight Club for the millennial generation" (Mat Johnson, author of Pym) peers straight into the dark heart of wellness and woke-ness, self-mythology and self-awareness, by asking what happens when we become addicted to the performance of ourselves.
"The Atmospherians is a marvel, a wonder, a gift. McElroy' s characters glide across the page, in and out of love, and we see ourselves in their conflicts, their crucibles, and what they hold dear. Simply put, McElroy dazzles. This novel is dazzling. " -BRYAN WASHINGTON, author of Lot and Memorial "Alex McElroy has written the novel of our age. The Atmospherians combines Mary Gaitskill' s unflinching examination of beauty, cruelty, and power with a toxic masculinity rehabilitation center so outlandishly funny that it would fit perfectly in an episode of Nathan for You. This is a voice to get very excited about: darkly perceptive, stylistically bold, and terrifically, inimitably entertaining. " -MARY SOUTH, author of You Will Never Be Forgotten "Gutsy, hilarious, and fully saturated with the absurd spirit of our times, The Atmospherians is a novel about the tangle of capitalism, narcissism, and masculinity that have defined our cultural moment. McElroy is a master excavator of the murky innards that drive us, a satirist with an eye for the tender parts that make us tick. " -ALEXANDRA KLEEMAN, author of You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine "The Atmospherians is a thrilling satire about wrecked reputations and flawed stabs at redemption, but it' s also earnest examination of the fragile place between community and mob; most disturbingly, Alex McElroy draws an accurate portrait of this agitated era. " -CATHERINE LACEY, author of Pew, The Answers, and Nobody is Ever Missing "What wicked, utterly sublime, laugh-out-loud satire. With deft, shimmering prose, boundless in its capacity for capturing our most visceral desires, McElroy deciphers our age of wokeness and all its seductive kinks. This dazzling novel is the world, and we are living inside it. " - NOVUYO ROSA TSHUMA, author of House of Stone "Alex McElroy' s debut novel is wickedly funny, graceful in prose, and brilliant in execution. With its exploration and critique of contemporary culture in general, and masculinity gender performance specifically, The Atmospherians is a Fight Club for the Millennial Generation. I feel particularly bullish on this novel, and this writer. " -MAT JOHNSON, author of Pym and Loving Day "Rarefied, unstable, charged. This is the constant atmosphere in Alex McElroy' s brilliantly bizarre novel. A sophisticated farce about alienation, The Atmospherians takes our absurd age seriously-which is to say it laughs, darkly, in its face. " -HERNAN DIAZ, author of In the Distance, a Finalist for Pulitzer Prize "An astonishing vision. Every page contains a new wonder, another breathtaking surprise. This novel satisfies a hunger you might have never even realized was there. " -MATTHEW BAKER, author of Why Visit America and Hybrid Creatures "The Atmospherians is what happens when an amazing idea meets stunning awareness meets brilliant writing. A book dazzling with power. " -NANA KWAME ADJEI-BRENYAH, New York Times bestselling author of Friday Black "The novel balances perfectly on the razor' s edge between reality and absurdism, the place where excellent satire dwells, while spinning a complex investigation of huge topics: guilt, culpability, loyalty, sexism, fatphobia, abuse of power. . . . It is a book about craving-fame, food, praise, each other, ourselves-and it is a book to be devoured. " -Vanity Fair "McElroy' s impressive debut novel lands a well-crafted jab at toxic masculinity and attempts to control it. . . rich prose and haunting images, using a finely honed satirical lens. This notable debut makes hay with the miasma of contemporary culture. " -Publishers Weekly "McElroy' s debut is as uncomfortable as it is thought-provoking. It takes on toxic masculinity, eating disorders, influencer culture, and the violence inherent in power dynamics without dragging or overreaching. Edgy, addictive, gruesome, and smart. " -Kirkus (Starred review) "McElroy offers trenchant commentary on our society' s fraught gender dynamics. " -The Washington Post ". . . . sly and uncanny and darkly funny. . . . " -Poets and Writers "A bold, mischievous, and brilliant debut novel. " -AV Club "McElroy exposes the cognitive dissonance required to live in a world in which everything exists alongside everything else all at once, the world of the internet. It is a brilliant debut, marking McElroy as a writer to watch. " -The Seattle Times
Alex McElroy (they/them) is a nonbinary writer based in Brooklyn. They received their MFA from Arizona State University and their PhD from the University of Houston. Their writing has been supported by the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, the Tin House Summer Workshop, the Sewanee Writers' Conference, and the Elizabeth George Foundation. The Atmospherians is their first novel.
Status: Active
ISBN-13: 9781982158323
Published: 8 Feb 2022
Published In: United States
Imprint: Simon & Schuster
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Format: Trade Paperback
Height: 210mm
Width: 135mm
Spine: 23mm
Weight: 297g
Pages: 320

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