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Oval: A Novel
Unavailable
Oval: A Novel
Unavailable
Oval: A Novel
Ebook355 pages6 hours

Oval: A Novel

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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About this ebook

  • A futuristic tech thriller in the vein of The Circle and a dark social comedy like My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Oval is a deeply funny and fast-paced novel that’s so sharply observed it’ll “slice you like a paper cut”
  • Anja and Louis live in a zero-waste “eco-community” run by a giant technological corporation called Finster. Their relationship is disrupted when Anja discovers that Louis has invented a pill that induces empathy in the user; he intends to use it to correct economic inequality in Berlin
  • Touching on everything from big tech to consumerism to climate change to relationships, Oval is a dystopian social satire for our times
  • Elvia Wilk has written for publications like Frieze, Artforum, Metropolis, Mousse, and more, and has been selected for residencies around the world; she’s well connected and counts Meg Wolitzer as her mentor
  • With Oval, Wilk joins the ranks of literary sci-fi writers of the moment: Naomi Alderman, Leni Zumas, and Emily St. John Mandel
  • Wilk perfectly balances the astute world-building of near-future Berlin with keen and often tender observations about human relationships. Early scenes in which Anja fixates worriedly over her role as Louis's partner and his behavior following his mother's death are particularly arresting: "She’d thought the death was hers to tell. Only now that she’d been robbed of it did she realize how tightly she’d been clutching the news to herself. She’d thought many times already of how to deliver the news to Howard, softly and somberly, ‘passed away’ instead of ‘dead,’ remembering the dark thrill of saying the words to her own parents and his friends who ‘deserved to know,’ the assuredness that she was the one entrusted to disseminate the privileged information. Knowing before anyone else, knowing first, had been proof of something. The shallowness of the proof, now disintegrated, revealed the pettiness of the need."

    Bookseller praise for Oval

  • Oval is bizarre yet delightful. Set in Berlin in a future that isn’t too far from today, the climate is scarily unpredictable, people are increasingly detached from their humanity, and big corporations are infiltrating all aspects of life, including art. A party drug called Oval enters the scene, supposedly meant to increase people's generosity for the betterment of society, but really it's for the better of the big corporation that owns the drug. It’s a dark and bleak novel, yet thoroughly enjoyable and engaging. I loved it!” —Sarah Cassavant, Subtext Books (St. Paul, MN)

  • "When I picked up Oval I was expecting something different, but I wasn't expecting to be blown away by the bizarre (in the best way possible) story Wilk has crafted. Upon meeting Anja and Louis you realize they are struggling to afford housing, like just about everyone else living in Berlin. When an opportunity arises for Louis to make money, no matter the cost of how it affects his relationship with Anja and just about everyone else, he seizes it. Thinking this could be the answer to the housing problems, Louis dives in with no regard as to how it will change their lives forever. A complex story about relationships and the desire to help humanity . . . But is it helping humanity when you are trying to help yourself? Is there a truly selfless act?" —Teresa Steele, Old Firehouse Books (Fort Collins, CO)

  • Oval is one of the most terrifying books I've ever read. Wilk paints a picture of the future that is too close to tomorrow for comfort. Somehow, everything is going wrong in Berlin. Housing is extremely unaffordable, climate is unpredictable, and people don't care about art or activism, only how a brand looks on the outside. I particularly enjoyed the character comparison between Anja and the house on the Berg: two living, breathing characters that smother their loved ones and eventual
  • LanguageEnglish
    Release dateJun 4, 2019
    ISBN9781593764340
    Unavailable
    Oval: A Novel
    Author

    Elvia Wilk

    Elvia Wilk is an experienced writer and editor who regularly contributes to publications like Frieze, Mousse, and Zeit Online. From 2012 to 2016, she was a founding editor at uncube magazine and went on to become a contributing editor at e-flux journal. She currently spends her time in both New York and Berlin.

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