Best Seller
Elect Mr. Robinson for a Better World
Paperback
$19.00
Available on Nov 17, 2026 | 192 Pages
A man decides to run for mayor as the town he lives in descends into chaos—a funny, acerbic novel from the award-winning author of The Hundred Brothers and My Eliot.
“A slice of sulfurous whimsy . . . You are drawn in because of the depth of human feeling that Antrim smuggles in . . . almost below the radar level.”—The New York Times
Pete Robinson, unemployed schoolteacher, surveys his seaside hometown with binoculars from the attic. It’s not looking so good. Families are engaging in warfare in the park. The former mayor was drawn and quartered after shooting missiles into a reflecting pool. Residents have dug pits around their houses and filled them with stakes to keep out the neighbors.
Eager to help, and with the school closed and the position having just opened up, Mr. Robinson decides to run for mayor. Just picture it: his former third graders toting Magic-Marker signs. Vote for our teacher for mayor because he’s the best! But does Mr. Robinson really want to save his town, or does he harbor less virtuous ambitions?
Darkly comedic and sharply astute, Elect Mr. Robinson for a Better World mines the psychosexual bedlam lurking just under the surface of well-mannered middle-class life, offering a portrait of a community as it comes apart at the seams.
“A slice of sulfurous whimsy . . . You are drawn in because of the depth of human feeling that Antrim smuggles in . . . almost below the radar level.”—The New York Times
Pete Robinson, unemployed schoolteacher, surveys his seaside hometown with binoculars from the attic. It’s not looking so good. Families are engaging in warfare in the park. The former mayor was drawn and quartered after shooting missiles into a reflecting pool. Residents have dug pits around their houses and filled them with stakes to keep out the neighbors.
Eager to help, and with the school closed and the position having just opened up, Mr. Robinson decides to run for mayor. Just picture it: his former third graders toting Magic-Marker signs. Vote for our teacher for mayor because he’s the best! But does Mr. Robinson really want to save his town, or does he harbor less virtuous ambitions?
Darkly comedic and sharply astute, Elect Mr. Robinson for a Better World mines the psychosexual bedlam lurking just under the surface of well-mannered middle-class life, offering a portrait of a community as it comes apart at the seams.
Author
Donald Antrim
Donald Antrim is the author of four novels, Elect Mr. Robinson for a Better World, The Hundred Brothers, The Verificationist, and most recently My Eliot, as well as a collection of stories and two works of memoir. He is a regular contributor to The New Yorker and was a MacArthur Fellow. He and his wife, Marija Ilic, a classical pianist, divide their time between Brooklyn, New York, and Belgrade, Serbia.
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