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Veblen Amundsen-Hovda is a curious girl. She lives in a run-down bungalow in Palo Alto that she restored herself. She chooses to work as a temp in a hospital. In her free time, she translates tracts of Thorstein Veblen's work into English from Norwegian. She has a dysfunctional family. Her mother is a hypochondriac and her father is in mental hospital. She lives her life without any complications, is happier among squirrels and nature.
Her boyfriend Paul springs a proposal on her one day. She is not very sure and it seems very sudden yet she finds herself saying yes and accepting a large diamond ring which she does not like. Paul is in medical research at the same hospital where Veblen temps. They met each other when Veblen was sent to Paul to deliver a message. They liked each other instantly and started dating.
Usually couples know everything about each other by the time they decide to get married. The situation is in reverse here. Paul and Veblen have a lot to learn about each other. They are certainly not a perfect fit. Will their love be able to withstand their contradicting natures?
On the surface, the book is about Paul and Veblen. It is also about Thorstein Veblen, an economist who propounded the theory of "Conspicuous Consumption". It is about letting nature breathe amongst reckless urbanization. It is also about devious pharmaceutical companies using underdeveloped research to mint money. It is about hippies and hypochondriacs and the mentally unstable learning to live together. It seems that the dysfunctional are the truly functional people in our society.
In the end, we learn, nothing is as it seems. Veblen can be pretty sorted out despite appearing unstable. Paul, despite appearing so straight and so conventional, hides flaws too. He has to learn to accept his hippie parents and his mentally unstable brother before he can even think of making his relationship work with Veblen. The question is, can Paul even learn that he has flaws?
It is a wonderful mish-mash of a book that appears to be a very simple love story between Paul and Veblen, but is much more.
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