The Portable Veblen: A Novel

"Elizabeth McKenzie’s quirky romantic comedy is a frisky charmer about a brainy, off-center couple who face up to their differences – and their difficult, eccentric families – only after they become engaged. In a nutshell, she – named for the Norwegian American economist and social critic Thorstein Veblen — values life’s simpler offerings, including the friendship of a squirrel who’s taken up residence in her attic. He’s an ambitious neurologist tempted by the spoils of his potentially lucrative life-saving invention. The novel is ultimately a morality tale about the values by which we choose to live, but it’s deliciously madcap and whimsical."