"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
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.
Praise for Oval
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 Wilk’s 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 Moshfegh–style 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 determinism―she 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 today’s 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 relationships―with their delicate dynamics―are 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 Wilk’s contemporaries." ––Maria Dimitrova, Bookforum
