Oval

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Bizarre weather. Unprecedented economic disparity. Artists employed by corporations. And the ultimate work of art- Oval, a pill that increases generosity. This unforgettable debut novel asks questions of empathy and power on every scale-from bodies to bureaucracies-to create an unsettling portrait of the future. In the near future, Berlin's real estate is being flipped in the name of "sustainability," only to make the city even more unaffordable; artists are employed by corporations as consultants, and the weather is acting strange. When Anja and Louis are offered a rent-free home on an artificial mountain-yet another eco-friendly initiative run by a corporation-they seize the opportunity, but it isn't long before the experimental house begins malfunctioning. After Louis's mother dies, Anja is convinced he has changed. At work, Louis has become obsessed with a secret project- a pill called Oval that temporarily rewires the user's brain to be more generous. While Anja is horrified, Louis believes he has found the solution to Berlin's income inequality. Oval is a fascinating portrait of the unbalanced relationships that shape our world, as well as a prescient warning of what the future may hold. "A fascinating near-future exploration of relationships, sustainability, and power. An extraordinarily accomplished debut novel." -Jeff VanderMeer, author of Borne and Annihilation "Elvia Wilk's Oval is a marvel. At the core of this seductive, acute, superbly-contemporary update of mid-period J.G. Ballard lies a deep-beating, deep-dreaming heart." -Jonathan Lethem

Reviews

Praise for Oval A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year in Fiction; One of Vulture's Best Books of the Year; One of The Morning News Tournament of the Books Short List Picks; A The Millions Most Anticipated Book of the Year; Thrillist, 1 of 33 Books We Can't Wait to Read This Summer; NYLON, 1 of 17 Great New Books to Read This Month; One of Domino's Best Books of Summer; artnet News, 1 of 9 Rollicking Books About Art, Artists, and Art Dystopias That Will Make You Look Smart on the Beach This Summer Elvia Wilks Oval is a marvel. At the core of this seductive, acute, superbly contemporary update of midperiod J. G. Ballard lies a deep-beating, deep-dreaming heart. Jonathan Lethem "A fascinating near-future exploration of relationships, sustainability, and power. An extraordinarily accomplished debut novel." Jeff VanderMeer, author of Borne and Annihilation "The book feints toward an Ottessa Moshfeghstyle ennui, the kind of tragic vision that disguises itself as satire. But Oval has a warm center in Anja, who is friendlier, more approachable, less alienating and alienated than the typical Moshfegh heroine . . . [Anja] is finely observed and solid, capable of both banter and feeling . . . When Wilk examines social behavior, her attention snags in all the right places . . . Like Oedipus or Othello, characters in Oval can neither alter their destiny nor anticipate its shape. Yet Wilk entwines a classical sensibility with biological determinismshe almost suggests that humans have reached the final phase of a natural decomposition process, like cells programmed to grow and then atrophy." Katy Waldman, The New Yorker Elvia Wilk's novel Oval is like an ever-expanding sphere . . . It would be beautiful satire if it didn't all ring so true. Jason Sheehan, NPR "Set in Berlin in the near future, Oval is a wry and timely novel that speaks to some of the biggest issues shaping todays society: the effects of climate change, the growth of corporate conglomerations, the (over)reach of health care, and the role of the artist who explores all of this." Amy Brady, Chicago Review of Books "Deeply weird and unsettlingly hilarious, Wilk's dystopian debut pushes the grim absurdities of the present just a little bit further, into a near future that's too plausible for comfort . . . The book's true surprise is its startling emotional kick: If the circumstances are heightened to extremes, the relationshipswith their delicate dynamicsare all too real. Witty and alarming, a satire with (unexpected) heart." Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "A high-minded, intelligent novel . . . Oval strikes a note that will vibrate with Wilks contemporaries." Maria Dimitrova, Bookforum "Oval . . . impressively recasts an all-too-familiar Berlin corporate-artistic landscape." Pablo Larios, Frieze, What We're Reading This Summer "In Elvia Wilk's brilliant, biting debut novel, Oval, the world is weird. This isn't to say it's unrecognizable. In fact, the specific weirdness of this world is what makes it so familiar; this dystopia bears contours as intimately known as those of our own face." Kristin Iverson, Nylon "This weird and hilarious dystopian story gives a grim view of todays society and the terrifying repercussions our actions might have in the future. A consummate marathon read!" Book Riot, 1 of the 7 Buzziest Beach Reads of the Year "Wilk's debut novel is a strange, vivid thought experiment. In a near-future Berlin, scientist Anja lives in an eco-settlement on an artificial mountain . . . Anjas quiet, shy analysis turns a critical eye to our future, asking daring questions of how the desire to change our world for the better could instead turn it a new kind of toxic. Wilk makes the reader ponder how relying on corporations to invest in art and sustainability could put us on a perilous path: in Anjas world, artists are corporate entities and the drive toward sustainability gentrifies communities. Oval is a book of plot twists and turns that roots itself in Anjas relatable, practical soul, and scientific passion for inquiry." Booklist (starred review) "Elvia Wilks debut novel, Oval, exquisitely depicts the exhaustion of trying to maintain your footing among the reality distortions of 21st-century companies like Google." Alex Ronan, The Nation "Oval is one for the sci-fi nerds out there who want to get their hands on some legit brilliant literature." Mehera Bonner, Cosmopolitan, One of the Best Books of the Month "A blistering diagnosis of how todays social structures have shaped us . . . Wilk is astute at rendering the social comedy of our malaise . . . Much of Ovals conceptual heft derives from the technicolor detail of Wilks high-minded observations. Its why the book feels not just convincingly dystopian but also keenly attuned to the ills of our moment . . . [Wilk] has DeLillos gift for revealing microscopic social interactions as whole paradigmatic traits of the way we look and live today. But, ultimately, shes also onto something more ephemeral than the field of visibility can express . . . In its willingness to draw characters both complex and unresolvedto observe the shadows in their composition[Oval] transcends its influences." Michael Friedrich, Los Angeles Review of Books "Soft Skull has a reputation for provocative, striking, and genre-bending prose, and Oval is no exception." Sarah Neilson, The Brooklyn Rail "Elvia Wilks debut novel Ovalis a speculative meditation on the evil humans doto the planet and to each other. Its also a distinctly millennial love story and a sometimes sharp and sometimes meandering critique of modern society." Yvonne C. Garrett, The Brooklyn Rail "Oval stuns in its exploration of contemporary psychology and the surrounding environment that informs it . . . Oval asks if we can control our lovers, how we can build our own families, and how it can be done while rent on earth skyrockets to uninhabitable." Sruti Islam, The Rumpus "Oval offers commentary on capitalism, consultants, drugs, climate change, and morebut its more than commentary. Its smart and enjoyable and a little bit terrifying." Emily Burack, Alma, One of Alma's Favorite Books for Summer "Oval is a dark and riveting critique of gentrification and the art world." Ruth Minah Buchwald, Electric Literature "Wilk has crafted a novel that shrewdly pokes fun at the urban creative class by fashioning a series of vignettes that make the New Yorkers Talk of the Town downright drab." Angelica Frey, Hyperallergic "An uncanny story of dread. In Wilk's hands, the backslide of society, real society, into the late-stage capitalism apocalypse feels inevitable in light of her deftly told and deliberately paced harbinger of our own doom. Oval deserves to be read widely; put this at the top of Alex Garland's next book-to-movie adaptation project list." Thrillist, One of the Best Books of the Year (So Far) "Elvia Wilks brave new worldin which artists have become consultants for corporations, and environmental action is above all else an aestheticis not so far from our own." Sanja Grozdanic, SLEEK "Wryly funny, dark, and smart, Oval is squarely in the tradition of Margaret Atwoods other dystopian masterpiece, the Madaddam trilogy." Siobhan Adcock, Betches, 1 of 5 Chilling Dystopian Novels by Women "A gleefully acerbic satire of class, greenwashing, disruption culture, and yes, 'authenticity.' A searing depiction of big techs habit of stealing our souls only to sell them back at 200% list price, Oval is kind of like The Jungle for the age of late capitalism, if The Jungle gave fewer fucks and was blessed with an A+ sense of irony. Anyone whos ever been creeped out by Googles targeted ads or Siris manufactured friendliness will find much to love in Wilks droll skepticism, let alone anyone whos witnessed the toxic absurdity of tech culture firsthand. I cackled through every page." Will Preston, Full Stop "Oval is a coming-of-age novel for a world at the precipice of its own end." Shane Anderson, 032c "Elvia Wilks brutal new satire Oval is a lot of thingsincluding a condemnation of gentrification under the guise of environmentalism, and a critique of how well-meaning people try and fail to change humanity for the better. But at its heart, the novel feels like a prolonged elegy for the art world, a coming-of-age story in which maturity is defined by the ability to leave a tired scene behind . . . Wilks real skill is in sketching an entire society that has thrown up its hands in the face of corporate dominance . . . Oval is a sharp weapon, both a provocation and a reckoning." Scott Indrisek, Observer "[Wilk's] skills as an interdisciplinary wordsmith are present in her debut novel Oval, which falls into the category of New Weirda genre of speculative fiction which is neither science fiction nor fantasy, but which explores unknown entities at the fringes of human consciousness. Through her excellent world building, we are plunged into a warped version of our city, where hipsters are inventing apps to trade social capital, where the seasons change on a daily basis, and where the housing crisis has been green-washed by corporations like Finster, who buy up properties under the pretense of making them eco-friendlier . . . Wilk puts society into a Petri dish and watches it squirm; her piercingly astute critique of social choreographies, gender roles, and the smoke and mirrors of corporate lingo feels unsettlingly close. This seminal work is at once tragic, tender and ominous, and will make its mark on Berlins literary timeline." Exberliner "Oval constructs a universe of grotesque gloom, where increasingly erratic weather triggers conspiracy theories and investor-patrons collect the shrunken heads of their artists who died before the terms of contract ended . . . In spite of Oval's pessimism, there's an underlying motivation to think through issues imaginatively with the aim of finding better alternatives." Whi

Author Bio

Elvia Wilk is a writer and editor living in New York and Berlin. She writes about art, architecture, and technology for several publications, including frieze, Artforum, e-flux, Metropolis, Mousse, Flash Art, Art in America, and Zeit Online.