Wanted: Elevator Man

Haunted by the larger-than-life shadow of his father, a scientist who may have helped develop the atomic bomb, twenty-nine-year-old Eliot Barnes, Jr., is an apple that's fallen far from the tree. Saddled with a useless degree in literature, caged in a rundown apartment he can't afford, and embittered by his failure to live up to the future's promise, Barnes, who dreams of a corner office—an aerie roost high above the city, working with the higher-ups—begrudgingly accepts a job as an elevator man in a downtown Chicago skyscraper. Thus begins a profound but comedic meditation on failure in this life, how one comes to terms with not achieving one's dreams, the nature and origin of such dreams, and, fittingly, the meaning of the American dream itself. As unflinching as Nelson Algren and as romantic as Saul Bellow, Peterson's novel boasts wildly surreal plot twists and a lethal wit that frequently erupts into full-on hilarity. is the perfect tale for learning to cope with diminished expectations in these dark and desperate times.