Insect Dreams — Marc Estrin

The metamorphosis of Gregor Samsa was surely one of the momentous transformations of modern times. Kafka's burning vision of the future ended with Gregor being swept into a dustbin. But what if Gregor were to survive and live to challenge the wrongs clouding humanity's horizon? In Insect Dreams, Gregor -- rescued by profiteers -- will sharpen his mind against the minds of Wittgenstein and Rilke, dance to the crazy rhythms of Prohibition, and appear as a surprise witness at the Scopes trial. Eventually, he'll meet FDR, join the brain trust, and move into the White House.

But a talking cockroach with an ethical agenda can wear out his welcome, and soon Gregor is reassigned as a risk management consultant for the Manhattan Project. What follows is nothing less than the explosive birth of contemporary existence -- and the culmination of a tale that is as intellectually ambitious as it is warmhearted and funny.