"The Portable Veblen" by Elizabeth McKenzie - Nat'l Book Award Longlist

Elizabeth McKenzie's novel is a quirky, unique, bizarre, thoughtful social commentary on marriage.  But that's only peanuts because it's also a serious commentary on the never ending machination of war, and the inhumane treatment of our veterans.  There's plenty more buried kernels of provocative criticism regarding our over medicated society, and the nefarious practices of pharmaceutical companies.  McKenzie unearths family dysfunction, narcissism & and mental illness.  Our main heroine is Veblen, a 30 something single woman and only child.  Her mother drives her daughter nuts with her neurotic, hypochondriac shenanigans.  Veblen's father resides in a mental institution after having suffered from PTS in Viet Nam.  After the war, he was never the same.  Who can fault Veblen for thinking she is able to communicate & maintain a relationship with squirrels.  A little crazy, maybe, but understandable & even admirable.  Veblen works as a temp at a medical research office at Stanford where she meets Paul, a neurologist research Dr.  The two have a whirlwind romance that falters along a bumpy road to the altar.  Paul also comes from dysfunctional family which includes a mentally challenged brother.  Still, Veblen & Paul are a couple whose romance you very much want to succeed.  Veblen is a likable, steadfast individual who communicates with squirrels.  Her hero is Thorstein Veblen the pragmatic socialist (b Amer 1854-1929.)  His most memorable quote being "Invention is the mother of necessity." Another of his statements "All business sagacity reduces itself in the last analysis to judicious sabotage" Paul discovers to be true as his medical innovation is perversely manipulated for commercial gain. He becomes a whistle blower against the pharmaceutical conglomerate.  Of course this is a couple we'd like to find wedded bliss together.  Although McKenzie observes some trials & tribulations of being a couple as "a phasing out of one's own's likes," "perpetual acts of insolence" and "the deterioration of intimacies."  "The Portable Veblen" is an endearing novel that digs up many serious & troubling issues with a love story to treasure.  It's an amazingly nutty find.