Atmospheric Disturbances Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, Capgras Syndrome and our BookBrowse Review of Atmospheric Disturbances.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

Introduction
Hailed as a virtuosa storyteller, garnering comparisons ranging from Borges to Murakami, Rivka Galchen has received a level of ebullient acclaim rarely bestowed on debut novelists. Exploring the nature of love, identity, truth, and reality itself, Atmospheric Disturbances is equally funny and fantastical, yet grounded in colorful details capturing the conflicts of daily life.

At the heart of these quandaries is Dr. Leo Liebenstein, his missing wife, Rema, and his psychiatric patient Harvey. The only clue Rema has left behind is an illusion of herself, a cunning simulacra that looks, talks, and behaves just like the real Rema and has fooled everyone but Leo. Attempting to unravel the mystery of spousal replacement, he embarks on an investigation that leads him to the inner sanctum of the Royal Academy of Meteorology in their cosmic conflict with the 49 Quantum Fathers, and the unwelcome conviction that somehow he—or maybe his wife, or maybe even Harvey—lies at the center of these unfathomable developments. From Buenos Aires to Manhattan, with many cosmic sojourns in between, Leo’s erratic quest yields both a suspenseful psychological thriller and a moving love story. Inventive and provocative, Atmospheric Disturbances deftly explores the nature of human relationships, and how we spend our lives trying to weather the storms of our own making.

Questions for Discussion

1. Discuss the novel’s epigraphs. Does your own experience with love and friendship match the observations of the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze? What is the effect of reading a quote from the “real” Tzvi Gal-Chen, followed by scenes of a fictional character who bears his name? How do Gal-Chen’s thoughts on prediction and knowledge predict various outcomes in the novel?
   


2. How much did you trust Leo as a narrator? What did you initially think the novel’s mysteries were? How did you interpret the various clues provided by the characters?
   


3. What symptoms does Harvey have in common with his healers? How did Rema’s scheme, coaching Leo through his impersonation, affect the mental health of the other characters?
   

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Picador. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.