In the the fictional country of Chimerica, down-and-out Tamil American trial lawyer Maya Ramesh fights to save a painted lemur come to life, and in settings that range from Oakland, California, to a Malagasy rain forest, becomes a champion for them both. In magical realist tradition Anita Felicelli's sprawling and satiric novel, Chimerica, looks at the inherent absurdities that drive systems of culture, power, and law. Fans of Marquez, Kelly Link, and Helen Oyeyemi will find Chimerica a spirited investigation of the ways in which art is codified and commodified—a contemporary philosophical, non-ideological novel about art, originality, and Americanculture.