A contemporary version of Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain, Curtis White's novel begins with Mann's "unassuming young man," Hans Castorp, visiting his cousin at a health retreat. In this book though, the retreat is a spa for recovering alcoholics, totally unlike all other rehab centers. Rather than encouraging their patients to free themselves of their addiction, the directors of The Elixir believe that sobriety isn't for everyone, that you must let alcohol work its way on you. Filled with many compelling, outrageous, and comic voices, White's novel is disturbing, charming, and biting. It is about a weird and unlikely world that nevertheless, is quite recognizable as our own.