Published by University Of Iowa Press on April 29, 2025

This amusing novel is told almost entirely in the form of a chat between two characters. Fans of the movie My Dinner with Andre will probably enjoy The Perturbation of O for its celebration of conversation.

Gideon Anderson was an unenthused college student. A generous uncle covered his living expenses, leaving him with little incentive to make a life for himself. He lost interest in everything and responded to his disinterest by writing a book about all the reasons nothing mattered to him. “It told the brief story of my final year at the University of Chicago where I had squandered my time not participating in classes, not planning for my future, but where I had gone about squandering funds that my uncle sent me on a monthly basis, it was a memoir I had initially titled The Ark of Disquiet . . . .”

Gideon included in the manuscript “all the things that had filled me with loathing that year of my final year at the University of Chicago . . . filling it like Noah’s ark with all the creaturely memories that filled me with bile.” He printed it out and planned to “release that ark upon the waters of Lake Michigan, thereby flushing away the great turd of a manuscript.”

While waiting for appropriately stormy weather to assure that the manuscript would be washed away, Gideon attended a party where he sat next to a “Kentucky gentleman” who “had just published a book about his boyhood in Kentucky.” Gideon drunkenly told the story of his own book and of his plan to jettison the turd into Lake Michigan. The Kentucky gentleman persuaded Gideon to send it instead to his agent, who loved the book and sold it to a publisher that made it a best seller under the title Gideon’s Confession. The book spawned a Broadway musical and a movie, generating enough income to allow Gideon to continue living a comfortable life as a slacker, albeit one who was beleaguered by unwelcome fame.

The novel opens seventeen years later in a coffee shop, where Gideon is reading a manuscript written by the Kentucky gentleman’s grandson for which he agreed write a blurb. He’s spotted by Regina Blast, a woman who was the best friend of Gideon’s girlfriend when Gideon was still a student. Regina was interested in painting light. When Gideon saw her paintings, he got a boner (at least that’s how Regina recalls it). They slept together, ending Gideon’s relationship and Regina’s friendship with Gideon’s girlfriend.

Gideon wrote about Regina and her paintings in Gideon’s Confession. Regina thought his descriptions of her art were honest and perceptive, even if she didn’t appreciate his description of her body or the sexual encounter that subsequent lovers pleaded with her to reenact. The bulk of the novel consists of their conversation in the coffee shop.

Much of their discussion involves Oprah Winfrey. Oprah had Gideon on her show after he was proclaimed the King of Slack, the symbol of the Slacker Generation. Oprah later visited Regina in her studio to view the art that so enamored Gideon. The visit caused Regina to rethink her artwork after she made a sketch of Oprah. She found a perfect O in the sketch and thereafter became “primarily a painter of brushstrokes” that form Os.

Gideon and Regina trade delightfully over-the-top descriptions of Oprah. Says Gideon, “Oprah has a magnificence about her when you are with her in person that is hard to describe, and in my life I don’t think I have ever encountered anyone who was so magnificent as her.” Says Regina, “in all of my life, I have never come close to encountering a person who, like Oprah, possessed such a bottomless depth of humanity and understanding and lovingness . . . ” and on and on and on.

The conversations consist of long rambling sentences. Gideon and Regina repeatedly circle back to the same issues — Gideon’s book, Regina’s art, their sexual encounter, and lots of Oprah. The conversation would be maddening or boring if it weren’t so funny. And funny it is.

The story nevertheless raises interesting questions about the right of a memoir author to discuss intimate details of another person’s life, the nature of art, and the merits of being a slacker. Gideon’s memoir is seen by some as an anti-capitalist manifesto, but it seems clear that Gideon was simply blowing off steam. The story might therefore be seen as raising questions about how media sensations are promoted as geniuses or generational voices when, in fact, they don’t have much to say at all. Serious readers might therefore have serious conversations about The Perturbation of O, but I doubt they will have conversations as amusing as the one in which Gideon and Regina engage.

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Thank you to Netgalley for this free ARC. All thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

I really wanted to like this book because the premise of telling a story through conversations sounded intriguing. Unfortunately, the 2 main characters were so insufferable and pretentious with the way they conversed, trying so hard to sound profound and seem disaffected by their “fame”, when it seems it is all they care about. I was expecting some kind of “punchline” or hint of satire, like a commentary on fame and celebrity but nothing really happens here. The characters’ conversations were so repetitive, if I had the chance to actually eavesdrop on their chat in a coffee shop, I would immediately interrupt them and tell them to just get to the point immediately.

The only consolation is that the book is 140 pages so if you really want to see it through to the end, it won’t take up much of your time.

Thank you to NetGalley and the University of Iowa Press for the ARC. The Perturbation of O is a fantastic exploration of Gideon and Regina's experiences with fame, creativity and artistry, as the two characters reconnect to discuss Gideon's biography, and his ensuing tryst with notoriety and how it impacted Regina's life and personhood. The book is a delightful plunge into the mind of an artist and explores feelings of inadequacy, self-doubt and intimacy with a sharp touch of hypocrisy and irony. The writing is almost meditative and compels you to finish the book in one go. 4/5

"The Perturbation of O" by Joseph G. Peterson is a humorous tale of artistry and fame. In this novel, the protagonist, Gideon, reconnects with Regina, an artist, and his past one-night stand, whom he wrote about in his well-known memoir, which captures the Gen X spirit of his college days.

After years apart, these two famous artists meet again and reminisce about their brief encounter, Gideon's book, Regina's artistic evolution, and how Oprah played a role in their lives. Gideon claims he wrote the memoir to destroy it and move past his negative memories. However, a chance encounter led to its unexpected publication. Regina, on the other hand, insists she never sought fame but became a viral sensation when her work and story from the book attracted attention, including from Oprah. She is frustrated that Gideon exposed intimate details about her without her consent.

This novel explores themes of authorship, “origin stories,” fame, idealism, capitalism, hypocrisy, and intimacy. It is the first book I have read by Peterson, and I highly recommend it. The author’s prose has a lovely rhythmic and slightly repetitive quality, which feels introspective—as if the characters are ruminating or trying to justify their actions to themselves and others. The sense of perturbation is often palpable in the writing. It is humorous and character-driven, offering a comedy of manners that revolves around fame and art.

I believe fans of Kaveh Akbar’s "Martyr" or Noor Naga’s "If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English" would appreciate this read. Thank you to NetGalley and the University of Iowa Press for the ARC.