A Philosophy of Ruin

A TIME Magazine Best Book of SummerA Vol. 1 Brooklyn Book of the MonthA LitHub Most Anticipated Book of SummerAn InsideHook Best Book of the Month"An unforgettable debut. Mancusi is a writer to watch."—Alexander Chee, author of How to Write an Autobiographical Novel 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 BadOscar 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...