The Portable Veblen

A unique book that might not be to everyone's taste. The heroine, Veblen, likes to talk to squirrels and eschews most trappings of the modern consumerist society. When her boyfriend Paul proposes after a few months of dating, she thinks she has found her perfect soul mate, as well as a family of in-laws that will offer her the warmth that her own narcissistic, hypochondriacal mother never provided. Paul loves Veblen, but his lifetime goal is to become a successful medical researcher who can afford a fancy home and a boat, to compensate for the childhood he spent on a commune with his loving neo-hippy parents. True love is great, but when it's followed by harrowing meetings with your in-laws-to-be, and the growing realization that you and your fiance have contrasting values ( not to mention opposing views on the merits of squirrels), a happy ending is not a sure thing.

Any book that covers family dynamics, war veteran PTSD, obscure economists, evil pharmaceutical executives and of course more information than you need to know about squirrels (including how to say the word in 65 different languages) is going to register as something you don't encounter every day. I could quibble that Veblen's mother is so godawful that she crosses the line into a cartoon villain, and that Veblen's quirks don't really add up to a full personality, but that didn't stop me from inhaling this 400 page book in less than 24 hours. It's funny, sad, sweet, thought-provoking and ultimately hopeful.