num_pages: 240
description: Atmospheric Disturbances is at once a moving love story a dark comedy a psychological thriller and a deeply disturbing portrait of a fracturing mind.When Dr. Leo Liebensteins wife disappears she leaves behind a single confounding clue: a woman who looks talks and behaves exactly like heror almost exactly like herand even audaciously claims to be her. While everyone else is fooled by this imposter Leo knows better than to trust his senses in matters of the heart. Certain that the original Rema is alive and in hiding Leo embarks on a quixotic journey to reclaim his lost love. With the help of his psychiatric patient Harveywho believes himself to be a secret agent who can control the weatherLeo attempts to unravel the mystery of the spousal switch. His investigation leads him to the enigmatic guidance of the meteorologist Dr. Tzvi Gal-Chen the secret workings of the Royal Academy of Meteorology in their cosmic conflict with the 49 Quantum Fathers and the unwelcome conviction that somehow heor maybe his wife or maybe even Harveylies at the center of all these unfathomables. From the streets of New York to the southernmost reaches of Patagonia Leos erratic quest becomes a test of how far he is willing to take his struggle against the seemingly uncontestable truth he knows in his heart to be false. Atmospheric Disturbances is at once a moving love story a dark comedy a psychological thriller and a deeply disturbing portrait of a fracturing mind. With tremendous compassion and dazzling literary sophistication Rivka Galchen investigates the moment of crisis when you suddenly realize that the reality you insist upon is no longer one you can accept and the person you love has become merely the person you live with. This highly inventive debut explores the mysterious nature of human relationships and how we spend our lives trying to weather the storms of our own making.
language: English
title: Atmospheric Disturbances
publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux