The Atmospherians by Alex McElroy

 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Title: The Atmospherians
Author: Alex McElroy
Release Date: 5.18.21
Publisher: Atria


Publisher's Summary
A “dazzling” (Bryan Washington, author of Memorial and Lot ) and brilliantly satirical debut novel for fans of Women Talking and Red Clocks about two best friends—a disgraced influencer and a struggling actor—who form The Atmosphere, a cult designed to reform problematic men.

Sasha Marcus was once the epitome of contemporary success: an internet sensation, social media darling, and a creator of a high profile wellness brand for women. But a confrontation with an abusive troll has taken a horrifying turn, and now she’s at rock bottom: canceled and doxxed online, fired from her waitress job and fortressed in her apartment while men’s rights protestors rage outside. All that once glittered now condemns.

Sasha confides in her oldest childhood friend, Dyson—a failed actor with a history of body issues—who hatches a plan for Sasha to restore her reputation by becoming the face of his new business venture, The Atmosphere: a rehabilitation community for men. Based in an abandoned summer camp and billed as a workshop for job training, it is actually a rigorous program designed to rid men of their toxic masculinity and heal them physically, emotionally, and socially. Sasha has little choice but to accept. But what horrors await her as the resident female leader of a crew of washed up, desperate men? And what exactly does Dyson want?

Explosive and wickedly funny, this “Fight Club for the millennial generation” (Mat Johnson, author of Pym) peers straight into the dark heart of wellness and woke-ness, self-mythology and self-awareness, by asking what happens when we become addicted to the performance of ourselves.


My Review
You know that once I read the word "cult" in a summary I'm in. This satire made some really funny jabs at modern society but lots of it was also...ew. Overall, I liked that I was equally enthralled and disgusted--strange, I know. The characters are very well written and Alex McElroy's commentary on modern masculinity and influencer culture are spot on. I would recommend this to readers who loved Self Care by Leigh Stein. Lastly, I know you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but...come on, this one is just so contemporary and smart!