Pillars: Science, and Other Profitable Lies — A Satirical Novel by Dr. Andrew Brandeis
SCIENCE, AND OTHER PROFITABLE LIES
Filed for publication: 23 March 2027.
Based on a true story that hasn't happened yet
From the world of Apex Pharmaceutical and Restempic.
About the Novel
Public Service Announcement
Do you suffer from a desire to be horizontal by 10pm? Do the dark hours of the night feel like a time to lay in bed, rather than seated at your desk?
You may be suffering from Rest Dependency. Millions of Americans lose 8 hours every night to this preventable disorder. Ask your doctor if Restempic may be right for you.
— Apex Pharmaceutical
Zach Sumthing / Apex Pharmaceutical
Filed for publication: 23 March 2027
Zach Sumthing is very good at arranging true facts into narratives that produce false conclusions. When Apex Pharmaceutical develops a drug that ends the need for sleep, Zach invents the disease that makes it prescribable. He names it. He funds the research. He destroys the scientist who finds the brain damage. And he tells the story so well that the biggest fraud in pharmaceutical history feels like a public service.
Pillars is a story about the narratives we are sold, the people who sell them, and the consequences we refuse to foresee.
Quick Facts
- Title
- Pillars: Science, and Other Profitable Lies
- Author
- Dr. Andrew Brandeis
- Publisher
- Post Hill Press
- Publication date
- March 23, 2027
- Format
- Paperback, 224 pages
- ISBN-13
- 979-8904670283
- Price
- $19.99 USD, paperback
- Category
- Literary fiction / Satire
- Length
- Approximately 65,000 words
- Tone
- Funny, clinical, morally slippery, pharma literate, literary, and increasingly horrifying
The World
Restempic
Designed for the post-downtime participant.
Restempic (somnolyntin) is presented in a single oral capsule, packaged for institutional and individual distribution through the Apex access program.
Advance Praise
“Skillful. The author maintains enough ambiguity to preserve deniability.”
“Refreshingly free of ideology. The author understands that medicine is, at its core, a business.”
“Finally, a novel that captures the courage it takes to bring a drug to market.”
For Readers
If Severance, Black Mirror, pharmaceutical advertising, and a performance review were left alone in a conference room, Pillars is the document they would eventually produce.
For readers of Yellowface and fans of Thank You for Smoking.
Stay Informed
Receive Secondary Effects.
Essays, notes, and in-world bulletins from Dr. Andrew Brandeis — including internal memoranda from the offices of Apex Pharmaceutical.
The Author
Dr. Andrew Brandeis is a physician and co-founder of OK Capsule, a personalized supplement company. Pillars is his first novel. He has never worked in pharmaceutical marketing, which he considers both a credential and an alibi.
Media inquiries: see Press Kit