Named a Barnes & Noble Best Book of the Year: The explosive debut novel about family, power, and privilege from the creator of the award-winning Mad Men. Mark and Karen Breakstone have constructed the idyllic life of wealth and status they always wanted, made complete by their beautiful and extraordinary daughter Heather. But they are still not quite at the top. When the new owners of the penthouse above them begin construction, an unstable stranger penetrates the security of their comfortable lives and threatens to destroy everything they've created. Acclaimed storyteller Matthew Weiner has been entertaining audiences for two decades as a writer, creator, executive producer, and the director of Mad Men, one of television's most honored series. He also worked as a writer and executive producer on The Sopranos, along with several comedy series, and made his feature film debut in 2014. Weiner studied at Wesleyan University and earned his MFA from the University of Southern California. "Weiner deftly exposes the weirdness of mundane life changes" and "chillingly reminds us of how unstable the ground is that we take for granted beneath our feet."-Maureen Corrigan, NPR's Fresh Air "creepy, unsettling...and queasily seductive"-USA Today "Beyond its chilling portrait of America's social and economic divide, the novel raises a number of thorny questions... Weiner writes with maximum economy"-Associated Press "You'll devour it in a single, heart-racing sitting."-People "slim but it packs a substantial punch"-Seattle Review of Books "The Matthew Weiner of Mad Men makes himself known in Heather via sharp and complex character insights...the novel transcends the status of a mere sleek, domestic thriller, and contributes meaningfully, unexpectedly, to resistance."-The Millions "A sharp, slim page-turner, though much simmers underneath the surface of Weiner's deft prose."-BookPage "Weiner's award-winning writing and producing of such renowned television shows as The Sopranos and Mad Men is neatly evident in his quietly thrilling debut novel. Written in descriptive and illuminating scene-like snippets-though nearly free of dialogue-this one-sitting read concerns the eerily shared delusions of a privileged Manhattan family and a man who stalks the periphery of their lives...The sense of doom is sharply rendered, characters are well developed, and their motivations are finely wrought. Readers will hope for more book-form fiction from Weiner."-Booklist "A sharp, character-driven debut novel that examines class and parenting with equal power,"-B&N Reads "Weiner has created a very contemporary and creepy little novel about a teenaged girl and a fervent admirer. Rife with observations about Manhattan's elite, Heather is both unsettling and satisfying."-Literary Hub "viscerally real and totally chilling, this is a fantastic book."-Bookreporter "A page-turning thriller...we highly recommend reading it in one sitting so you can soak it all in."-Popsugar "Fans of Mad Men will find familiar themes lurking in the show creator's debut novel."-Harper's Bazaar "Heather, The Totality is a tour de force of control, tone and razor-slash insight. In its clear-eyed anatomist's gaze and its remarkable combination of empathy and pitilessness I hear echoes of Flaubert and Richard Yates, with a deeply twisted twist of Muriel Spark at her darkest. I could not put it down." -Michael Chabon, author of Moonglow "Short and rapier-sharp, Matthew Weiner's HEATHER, THE TOTALITY compels and unnerves in equal measure. Like the great Patricia Highsmith, Weiner renders the disturbing not just plausible but exquisitely, agonizingly inevitable. A tour de force."-Claire Messud, author of The Burning Girl "This short novel of upper-crust anomie and class-divide obsession is a scorcher! It's the classic noir construction: the short walk off the long ledge and the plummet to an indifferent Hell. Matthew Weiner demonically delivers the goods! Read