Features
- Cover Type: Hard Cover with 256 pages
- Published by: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
- Edition: 1st Edition May 27, 2008
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 0374200114
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0374200114
-
Book Dimensions:
8.3 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
- Weighs: 12.8 ounces
Product Review
Amazon Best of the Month, June 2008: Imagine what it might be like to realize that the human being you love is, in fact,
not the human being you love but a doppelgänger: or, what Leo Liebenstein coolly terms a "simulacrum" of his wife Rema at the outset of
Atmospheric Disturbances. David Byrne's infamous cry that "this is not my gorgeous wife" seems the most likely response, but Leo's reaction to this sea change takes unpredictable and dazzlingly plotted turns in the story that follows. Leo's journey to recover the "real" Rema is nothing short of byzantine; among its many mysteries is the delightfully inscrutable Dr. Tzvi Gal-Chen, a master meteorologist who in cleverly constructed flashback sequences takes up residence in the daily rhythms of Leo and Rema's marriage and becomes as much a focus of Leo's obsession as his wife's whereabouts. (Think
Vertigo but directed by
Charlie Kaufman.) Make no mistake: this is dizzying debut fiction, bursting at the spine with gorgeously articulated ideas about love, yes, but also--and with maddening resonance--about the private wars love forces us to wage with ourselves. Be sure to keep a pen or pencil handy: it's impossible to resist underlining prose this good.
--Anne Bartholomew
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. In this enthralling debut, psychiatrist Dr. Leo Liebenstein sets off to find his wife, Rema, who he believes has been replaced by a simulacrum. Also missing is one of Leo's patients, Harvey, who is convinced he receives coded messages (via Page Six in the
New York Post) from the Royal Academy of Meteorology to control the weather. At Rema's urging, Leo pretends during his sessions with Harvey to be a Royal Academy agent (she thinks the fib could help break through to Harvey), and once Re- ma and Leo disappear, Leo turns to actual Royal Academy member Tzvi Gal-Chen's meteorological work to guide him in his search for his wife. Leo's quest takes him through Buenos Aires and Patagonia, and as he becomes increasingly delusional and erratic, Galchen adeptly reveals the actual situation to readers, including Rema's anguish and anger at her husband. Leo's devotion to the real Rema is heartbreaking and maddening; he cannot see that the lady he seeks has been with him all along. Don't be surprised if this gives you a
Crying of Lot 49 nostalgia hit.
(June) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Reader ReviewsI never believed that the narrator's voice belonged to a middle aged man. His behavior is inexplicable without raising my curiosity. Many pieces of the story go oon for several chapters then peter out. Many favorites' names are mentioned to sell this book- however: "Vertigo" is engaging and beautiful. Charlie Kauffman writes funny pieces bristling with empathy. Borges rarely wrote anything longer than ten pages because he wanted his stories to be perfect. Rivka Galchen's promoters are over reaching to imagine that any reader will find corollaries to these masterpieces in her prose. It's too melancholy, too long, wretchedly impersonal and eventually just dull. I gave up after 200 pages. It's a big disappointment.
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