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Atmospheric Disturbances
Atmospheric Disturbances: A Novel | Rivka Galchen
5 posts | 7 read | 12 to read
When Dr. Leo Liebenstein's wife disappears, she leaves behind a single, confounding clue: a woman who looks, talks, and behaves exactly like heror almost exactly like herand even audaciously claims to be her. While everyone else is fooled by this imposter, Leo knows better than to trust his senses in matters of the heart. Certain that the original Rema is alive and in hiding, Leo embarks on a quixotic journey to reclaim his lost love. With the help of his psychiatric patient Harveywho believes himself to be a secret agent who can control the weatherLeo attempts to unravel the mystery of the spousal switch. His investigation leads him to the enigmatic guidance of the meteorologist Dr. Tzvi Gal-Chen, the secret workings of the Royal Academy of Meteorology in their cosmic conflict with the 49 Quantum Fathers, and the unwelcome conviction that somehow heor maybe his wife, or maybe even Harveylies at the center of all these unfathomables. From the streets of New York to the southernmost reaches of Patagonia, Leo's erratic quest becomes a test of how far he is willing to take his struggle against the seemingly uncontestable truth he knows in his heart to be false. Atmospheric Disturbances is at once a moving love story, a dark comedy, a psychological thriller, and a deeply disturbing portrait of a fracturing mind. With tremendous compassion and dazzling literary sophistication, Rivka Galchen investigates the moment of crisis when you suddenly realize that the reality you insist upon is no longer one you can accept, and the person you love has become merely the person you live with. This highly inventive debut explores the mysterious nature of human relationships, and how we spend our lives trying to weather the storms of our own making.
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blurb
DebinHawaii
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Here‘s my playlist for the Horseman #buddyread & #FearfulFall weekend party. Since the book is described as atmospheric, I started my playlist as such & then added songs that call to me for Halloween & some that feel like they just fit the book. Using this playlist as part of my #Scarathlon22 #Bucketlist “Make a spooky/atmospheric playlist for #TeamMonsterMash 🎃

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3wi6aGycxaULBQMG6cS1v9?si=9pOezoN6Tu6SLKRhLfFg...

TheBookHippie 🎃🎃🎃 2y
vlwelser I like what you did here. 🎃 2y
Cinfhen Yay!!! Another Spotify playlist to add to my growing collection 🫶🏼 2y
BarbaraBB We share some titles but you came up with so many more!! Love it! 2y
42 likes4 comments
review
vivastory
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Pickpick

New York psychiatrist Leo Liebenstein is convinced that his wife has been replaced by a double, or a simulacrum as he refers to her. His professional approach is rather unorthodox. With good intentions he encourages a patient's delusions & soon finds himself in a situation reminiscent of Borges & Eco. Galchen's debut novel tends to get bogged down at times by meteorology metaphors & it would have benefitted from a more playful tone in the 👇

vivastory Final third. Yet, it is undeniably an impressive debut novel. It is emotional, playful & full of ideas. A worthwhile look at identity & how we perceive others in relationships. 8y
56 likes5 stack adds1 comment
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vivastory
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saresmoore Ha! Smile theory. 8y
39 likes1 stack add1 comment
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vivastory
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All 6 of these sound equally appealing. I'm going to eat dinner & then stealing the idea from @ReadingEnvy & @saresmoore i will be speed dating them (2 pages randomly selected)

britt_brooke Curious to hear what you think about Idaho. 8y
saresmoore It really is a good strategy! These all look pretty great to me, too. I read Elegance of the Hedgehog several years ago and I remember liking it at the time, but I'm not sure how I would feel about it now. Good luck & I look forward to your thoughts! 8y
merelybookish I adored Idaho! 8y
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LiteraryinPA I love Hedgehog! 8y
Megabooks Great idea!! 8y
Hooked_on_books That's a cool idea! 8y
LeahBergen I think I am most looking forward to His Bloody Project (from this stack). 😀 (edited) 8y
vivastory @LeahBergen I am planning on reading all of the Man Booker 2016 short list before the 2017 short list is announced. Except for "All that Man Is" which I have zero interest in 8y
Kalalalatja I have seen some booktubers doing this, only they read the first chapter. It seems like a great idea to decide on the next book 👍 8y
ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled @LeahBergen His Blood Project is FANTASTIC. It really makes you think. 8y
vivastory @Kalalalatja I used to watch booktube a lot before joining litsy. A chapter from several books seems like a long time to settle on a book. 8y
Kalalalatja True, but I am not sure 2 random pages would be enough for me either 😄 I don't know, maybe it depends on the book/books 8y
vivastory @Kalalalatja I found it helpful since they were all books i wanted to read 8y
ReadingEnvy I usually try 25 pages for a short book, 50 for longer, but I'm a glutton.... 8y
56 likes15 comments
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dylanisreading
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"She didn't have what one would call a 'profession,' but I didn't know why she particularly wanted one; it seemed like she'd been infected by a very American idea of identity, to think that who you were mostly consisted of what you did to get paid--that seemed silly to me."