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Electric Orange
A fugitive psychologist. A rogue publicist. A reluctant biographer. A dare that shakes the nation.
Electric Orange is a darkly comic novel about memory, media, and the line between brilliance and delusion. Part psychological mystery, part alternate history, it’s a portrait of a person and nation that can’t tell the difference between psychosis and prophecy.
When a social psychologist has a nervous breakdown on national television, the last thing he expects is to become a populist icon. But when his sarcastic rant is taken literally by America’s angriest fringes, Pieter Verboom becomes the accidental prophet of a movement he wants nothing to do with. Desperate to disappear, he’s hounded by his unhinged publicist, Ella Walker, who sees disaster as branding gold.
Told through the eyes of Santo Vera—Verboom’s loyal student and reluctant caretaker—Electric Orange unfolds as a darkly comic satire in the form of a psychological mystery. From Washington, D.C., to Flagstaff, Venice Beach, and Seattle, Santo records his mentor’s unraveling thoughts as a nation mistakes irony for gospel.
For readers of Don DeLillo, Gary Shteyngart, Ottessa Moshfegh, Paul Beatty, and R.F. Kuang, Electric Orange blends psychological depth with biting wit. Smart, funny, and disturbingly timely, it What happens when a joke becomes someone else’s revolution?
At once serious and absurd, Electric Orange is written with the clarity of social science, the bite of satire, and the rhythm of a page-turner. In the tradition of 1984, It Can’t Happen Here, and The Plot Against America, this novel distills, exposes, and thrills with wit and urgency. Through vivid characters and luminous prose, it draws readers so deeply into its world they scarcely realize they’ve become part of the thought experiment.
Electric Orange is a darkly comic novel about memory, media, and the line between brilliance and delusion. Part psychological mystery, part alternate history, it’s a portrait of a person and nation that can’t tell the difference between psychosis and prophecy.
When a social psychologist has a nervous breakdown on national television, the last thing he expects is to become a populist icon. But when his sarcastic rant is taken literally by America’s angriest fringes, Pieter Verboom becomes the accidental prophet of a movement he wants nothing to do with. Desperate to disappear, he’s hounded by his unhinged publicist, Ella Walker, who sees disaster as branding gold.
Told through the eyes of Santo Vera—Verboom’s loyal student and reluctant caretaker—Electric Orange unfolds as a darkly comic satire in the form of a psychological mystery. From Washington, D.C., to Flagstaff, Venice Beach, and Seattle, Santo records his mentor’s unraveling thoughts as a nation mistakes irony for gospel.
For readers of Don DeLillo, Gary Shteyngart, Ottessa Moshfegh, Paul Beatty, and R.F. Kuang, Electric Orange blends psychological depth with biting wit. Smart, funny, and disturbingly timely, it What happens when a joke becomes someone else’s revolution?
At once serious and absurd, Electric Orange is written with the clarity of social science, the bite of satire, and the rhythm of a page-turner. In the tradition of 1984, It Can’t Happen Here, and The Plot Against America, this novel distills, exposes, and thrills with wit and urgency. Through vivid characters and luminous prose, it draws readers so deeply into its world they scarcely realize they’ve become part of the thought experiment.
450 pages, Paperback
Published September 15, 2025
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May 7, 2026
This book will kick you in the nads and leave you gasping for more. Poortinga weaves an elaborate and insightful portrayal of the modern polarization of our country. The characters witty dialogue make you feel like you are along for the ride. Twists and turns, drama and intrigue, this is a debut novel not to be missed.
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