Paul Verhaeghen
Omega Minor
$16.00

Originally from Belgium, Verhaeghen is a cognitive psychologist whose work focuses on memory and basic aspects of cognitive aging. He currently teaches at the Georgia Tech. Omega Minor is a 695-page tour de force that has been variously described as a “novel of ideas” and a “thriller.” Originally written in Dutch, and translated into English by Verhaeghen himself, the book won, among other prizes, the Flemish Culture Award -- the equivalent of the National Book Award. The novel takes a Pynchon-esque look at the dark legacies of WWII and its aftermath. Omega Minor follows three main characters: Paul Andermans, a Flemish postdoctral student in Potsdam in 1995; the shadowy Goldfarb, a German nuclear scientist who now teaches at Andermans's university; and Jozef De Heer, who survived the Holocaust to live a meek existence in reunited 1995 Germany.

"A powerful, imposing novel. One of the rare literary works that instills deep gratitude in the reader. Omega Minor is the great novel that the twentieth century still owed us." -- De Standaard