THE ATMOSPHERIANS

A cult sets out to reform men.

Sasha Marcus built a career as a wellness influencer, but she loses everything—her followers, her connections, her job—when a troll livestreams his suicide and publicly blames her. The day she receives an eviction notice, just after her 29th birthday, her oldest friend, Dyson Layne, a struggling actor, shows up unannounced at her front door with a wild idea: “Mindfulness is the swamp of aspiring quacks...me and you: we’re starting a cult.” They plan to use land Dyson inherited from his grandparents to host and reform 12 middle-aged White men. The world of the novel is hyperreal, presenting a familiar reality studded with uncanny details. For example, there’s the problem of “man hordes”: a growing phenomenon in which groups of men lose consciousness temporarily, sometimes causing destruction but other times doing things like gardening or saving pets. Dyson insists they are “a sign of something deeply wrong in the souls of men today.” The Atmosphere, Sasha and Dyson's cult, is supposed to be the solution: “The Atmosphere: where men become human.” McElroy’s debut is as uncomfortable as it is thought-provoking. It takes on toxic masculinity, eating disorders, influencer culture, and the violence inherent in power dynamics without dragging or overreaching.

Edgy, addictive, gruesome, and smart.