The Verificationist

In the hands of Donald Antrim, recently chosen by The New Yorker as one of the 20 best writers under 40, this unique perspective becomes an exuberantly funny riff on our culture that does nothing less than expose the most basic of human needs. Breathtakingly smart, fascinatingly peculiar, and singularly well written, The Verficationist is the work of one of America's strangest and most fiercely intelligent writers.
With" The Verificationist, Donald Antrim, acclaimed author of The Hundred Brothers, confirms his place as one of America's strangest and fiercely intelligent young writers.
One April night, a group of psychologists from the Krakower Institute meet at a pancake house, where they order breakfast foods and engage in shop talk and the occasional flirtation. At the center of this maelstrom of pyschobabble and unrequited lust sits Tom, program coordinator for the Young Women of Strength, who has been known to sob uncontrollably at meetings. When Tom tries to initiate a food fight, a rival psychologist bear hugs him into submission, resulting in an out-of-body experience that leaves our Tom hovering over his colleagues. In the hands of Donald Antrim, this unique perspective becomes an exuberantly funny riff on our culture that does nothing less than expose the core of emotions underlying the most basic of human needs.