Oscar Boatwright is a young philosophy professor in California. Despite his meager salary and sizable student loan debt, he enjoys the pursuit of inquiry and discussions around eternal philosophical questions. But a series of events unfolding in rapid-fire succession leads Oscar to question everything he believes and to do things he never considered himself capable of.
When his mother dies mid-flight on the way to Hawaii, Oscar learns from his devastated father that they were in debt to a self-help guru named Paul St. Germaine. Oscar's anger about the situation is magnified by St. Germaine's pseudo-philosophical platitudes, which contradict his beliefs. As an escape, Oscar gets drunk and has a one-night stand with Dawn, only to realize too late that she's a student in his class. Dawn has a proposition for Oscar: transport drugs from the Mexican border in exchange for a sizable cut of the proceeds. Oscar "wondered if the story of his life was going to be the story only of an intelligent coward who used a vague moral superiority to mask his inaction." What path does Oscar choose?
In A Philosophy of Ruin, Nicholas Mancusi imbues the psychological thriller with uncommon depth and no easy answers. Oscar's contempt for St. Germaine is complicated by his father's assertion that, despite his charlatanism, he made Oscar's mother happy. As Oscar undertakes actions that were unthinkable just days before, he questions whether he is acting of his own free will or if external forces have determined his fate. A thought-provoking page-turner, A Philosophy of Ruin is noteworthy debut. --Frank Brasile, librarian