A young philosophy professor finds himself in the middle of a drug-running operation after his personal life derails: “Riveting fun to read.” —New York Times Book Review
A Time Magazine Best Book of Summer
Oscar Boatwright, a disenchanted philosophy professor, receives terrible news. His mother, on her way home from Hawaii with Oscar’s father, has died midflight, her body cooling for hours until the plane can land.
Deeply grieving, Oscar feels his life slipping out of his control. His family is in debt and, desperate to help them, Oscar agrees to assist his student Dawn with a drug run.
A Philosophy of Ruin rumbles with brooding nihilism, then it cracks like a whip, hurtling Oscar and Dawn toward a terrifying threat on the road. Can Oscar halt the acceleration of chaos? Or was his fate never in his control? Taut, ferocious and blazingly intelligent, A Philosophy of Ruin is a heart-pounding thrill ride into the darkest corners of human geography, and a philosophical reckoning with the forces that determine our destiny.
“A wickedly sharp novel, darkly hilarious yet also big-hearted and full of surprising twists and turns.” —Dan Chaon, National Book Award finalist and author of Sleepwalk
“A gripping thriller.” —Booklist
“For all its edgy, downbeat humor, the novel inspires a deep emotional investment in Oscar. The big existential questions that get asked are brilliantly framed by his antics. The payoff is, dare we say it, profound.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
* An InsideHook Best Book of the Year * A Vol. 1 Brooklyn Book of the Month * A LitHub Most Anticipated Book of Summer * An Evening Standard Summer Reading Pick
