The Portable Veblen A Novel

"A literary novel with a squirrel subplot may sound improbable, yet McKenzie adroitly skirts the line between plausible and the absurd. Veblen, the book's heart and spirit, wins us over with her sense of wonder about the natural versus the man-made world - a wonder that suffuses the entirety of this quirky, engaging novel." -The New York Times Book Review

"McKenzie has crafted a story that beneath an entertaining, clever surface, is deep and wise and complicated....With so light a touch and yet more serious and beautiful and relevant than many a weightier novel, The Portable Veblen has the feel of an instant, unlikely classic." -Jeff VanderMeer in the Los Angeles Times

"Riotous ...A delightfully knotty synthesis of psychological study, philosophical inquiry, romantic page-turner, and economic critique."-Electric Literature

"A delightfully cockeyed love story that enfolds two splendidly dysfunctional families and a winningly persistent squirrel."-More Magazine

"'Funny and engaging and imbued with a very particular sensibility that might be described as 'quirky' if that term had not become trivialized by its overuse; despite being full of jokes and turns of phrase that make a reader laugh out loud...The Portable Veblen is a serious and, at times, sad book. And there is a talking squirrel."-Chicago Reader

"Full of vibrant passages that practically leap off the page and twirl around the room. Veblen and Paul become richer, more nuanced characters as the book continues, thanks in part to McKenzie's deft and amusing exploration of the conflicts between them and their parents. She also unleashes her satirical powers on Big Pharma and the defense industry."-Dallas Morning News

"[Veblen] is a rich, well-rounded character...McKenzie...weaves in historical and cultural factoids about the Bay Area that truly make the novel zing...Satirical, funny, and satisfyingly clever, The Portable Veblen weaves multiple narrative threads into a seamless whole."-KQED

"Irresistibly comedic...McKenzie...has an appealingly light, playful touch...'The Portable Veblen' is about how very squirrelly family dysfunction can be - and about how, as many of us never get tired of reading, love sometimes can conquer all."-Seattle Times

"Modern romance, Big Pharma, and one very intuitive squirrel collide in McKenzie's clever, winningly surreal novel...McKenzie has a pitch-perfect ear for a certain kind of California kookery...It's hard not to be charmed by Veblen's whimsy. Grade: A-."-Entertainment Weekly

"A sweet, sharply written, romantic comedy about the pitfalls of approaching marriage... McKenzie imbues her characters with such psychological acuity that they, as well as the off-kilter world they inhabit, feel fully formed and authentic...With its inspired eccentricities and screwball plot choreography, McKenzie's novel perceptively delves into that difficult life stage when young adults finally separate-or not-from their parents. In the end, The Portable Veblen is a novel as wise as it is squirrely."-Maureen Corrigan, NPR's Fresh Air

"One of the great pleasures of reading Elizabeth McKenzie is that she hears the musical potential in language that others do not...Her dialogue has real fizz and snappity-pop. It leaves a bubbled contrail. Ms. McKenzie's ear is not her only asset. There is also her angled way of seeing things. The hats on all of her characters sit slightly askew...For all its charm, bounce, radiant eccentrics and diverting episodes involving drug companies and squirrels, that is what 'The Portable Veblen' is about: shaking the demented ghosts of our youth so that we can bind with clean spirits to someone in our adulthood...A novel of such festive originality that it would be a shame to miss."-Jennifer Senior, The New York Times

"A winning satire of contemporary mores...McKenzie has written a funny, deeply critical book with the heart of a cynic and the texture of a soufflé."-Boston Globe

"A smart charmer about a