First published 2010
Eisenberg's characters navigate the complexities of contemporary American existence through small encounters that reveal large truths. A woman processes foreign transactions while grappling with cultural displacement. Friends gather under military shadows, their conversations layered with unspoken tensions. Relationships form and fracture around the mythical city of Atlantis as people search for connection. In the aftermath of September 11th, ordinary Americans confront how quickly their familiar world can shift. These stories move between comedy and melancholy, following protagonists who find themselves caught between what they expected from life and what actually unfolds. Eisenberg writes with surgical precision about moments when people recognize the gap between their inner lives and external reality. Her characters struggle with intimacy, observe social rituals with bemused detachment, and discover that the most significant changes often arrive through seemingly minor events. The emotional core lies in how people adapt when certainty dissolves, finding unexpected resilience in their capacity to witness and endure.
Genres: literary-fiction, american-fiction, contemporary, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, intimate-relationships
Setting: Atlantis, United States
Period: 21st Century
992 pages · Paperback · Picador