Insignificance

For fans of Ducks, Newburyport and Rivka Galchen’s Atmospheric Disturbances, a day-in-the-life of a plumber whose troubles are all coming to a head.

In an addictive, interior-monologue lyric novel, we meet Joseph. Back on the job after a long leave, he’s not at all sure he’ll make it through the day.

Bad thoughts keep creeping in. He believes that his son, suffering from a condition in which he beli...