A Philosophy of Ruin

by Nicholas Mancusi Narrated by James Fouhey

Overview

“Riveting fun to read.”-New York Times Book Review

“An unforgettable debut. Mancusi is a writer to watch.”-Alexander Chee, author of How to Write an Autobiographical Novel


A TIME Magazine Best Book of Summer

A Vol. 1 Brooklyn Book of the Month

A LitHub Most Anticipated Book of Summer

An Evening Standard Summer Reading Pick

An InsideHook Best Book of the Month

A young philosophy professor finds himself in the middle of a drug-running operation after his personal life derails in this taut, white-knuckle debut for fans of Breaking Bad


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. A seemingly innocuous one-night stand with a woman named Dawn becomes volatile when, on the first day of classes, he realizes she is his student, and later learns that she is a fledgling campus drug lord. To make matters worse, his family is in debt, having lost their modest savings to a self-help guru who had indoctrinated Oscar's mother by preying on her depression. Desperate to help his family, Oscar breaks with his academic personality-he agrees to help 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 heart-pounding philosophical thriller that explores the forces that determine our destiny, A Philosophy of Ruin is a must-read for fans of Caroline Kepnes and Dan Chaon.

HarperCollins 2024

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

You don’t really know your parents completely until after their death, when you meet them at last, without their being able to distract you from what they don’t want you to see—but nothing prepares you for how you meet yourself at the same time. This is where A Philosophy of Ruin begins. Funny, wise, mature beyond its years, this is a fable of late capitalism, a cautionary tale about aging parents, and an unforgettable debut. Mancusi is a writer to watch.”—Alexander Chee, author of How to Write an Autobiographical Novel



"A Philosophy of Ruin is a wickedly sharp novel, darkly hilarious yet also big-hearted and full of surprising twists and turns. I couldn't put it down.”—Dan Chaon, author of Ill Will



"A quick, terrifying, uncompromising novel about fate and family with echos of Denis Johnson and Robert Stone, but with a dark, propulsive energy all its own. This novel marks the arrival of a voice that will be bringing us the worst news in the most riveting fashion for many years to come."—David Burr Gerrard, author of The Epiphany Machine



“A Philosophy of Ruin is the smartest blend of philosophy seminar and action movie. I loved it.”—Caroline Kepnes, author of YOU



“What novel has the audacity to pair serious meditations on human free will with an antic high-stakes caper about making fast money by going dangerously south of the law? Nicholas Mancusi’s debut novel, that’s what. At turns harrowing and hilarious, deeply affecting and bad-ass clever, A Philosophy of Ruin fights against all expectations and delivers something truly weird and wonderful. A thinking person’s novel strapped to a stolen firearm.”—Christopher Bollen, author of The Destroyers



“Nicholas Mancusi has written a brilliant big-hearted explosion of a father and son novel, each man shot out into the world at the wildest of vectors and landing as smoldering rubble. Imagine a killer, like Benicio del Toro in Sicario, dropping down right in the middle of The Corrections and you have some idea of the book you’re holding.” —Will Chancellor, author of A Brave Man Seven Storeys Tall



"Nicholas Mancusi’s potent first novel trembles along the fault lines of our destinies and dread. His protagonist, Oscar Boatwright, is an uncommon quester with a vision, and not someone you are likely ever to forget. Honed in prose that reaches both within and without, A Philosophy of Ruin boasts what many novels don’t even know they need: a gusto unafraid of sounding what is best and worst in us.”—William Giraldi, author of Hold the Dark



“Tenderly written..frenetic…moving and humorous. Mancusi’s novel successfully depicts the long, mutating shadow of grief and depression.”—Publishers Weekly



“Profound. Brooklyn writer Mancusi's revelatory novel is a drug tale with a difference—even the chase scenes are philosophical.” –Kirkus Reviews (STARRED review)



“A gripping thriller… Mancusi's writing is sophisticated, graceful, and deeply empathetic.” –Booklist



"A whirlwind of chaos...Mancusi’s debut novel displays dark humour and intellectual depth."—TIME



"A Philosophy of Ruin, brings together an exploration of morality with a gripping plot."—Vol. 1 Brooklyn



"Riveting fun to read."—New York Times Book Review



"This debut is a literary thriller with shades of Denis Johnson and Cormac McCarthy, but the balance of heart, humor and dialogue is what makes it stand out from the rest of the writers that derive influence from those dirty realist masters. It’s the sort of novel that Breaking Bad fans should make sure to pick up asap."—InsideHook

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170154449
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	06/18/2019
Edition description:	Unabridged

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