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A review by grahamclements
Meanwhile in Dopamine City by D.B.C. Pierre
5.0
A fabulously imaginative and clever novel that delves into how new technologies, and social media in particular, are and will affect our lives. It is a very funny novel, but at the same time very sad, as social media apps and their makers conspire to control and manipulate peer-group-driven users. Many of the imagined apps are already in use in similar forms.
The story revolves around a single dad trying to relate to his kids who are too caught up in online worlds to interact with him.
The novel is written in a very clever way, with the page divided in two for most of the novel. On one side of the page we have the story narrative, on the other side we have quick web stories. Some of the web stories are regularly updated, some of them directly or indirectly relate to what is happening in the ongoing main story narrative.
The dialogue is amazing, from officous teachers and social workers to racist sewerage workers, to totally unempathetic app designers, to the fragmented conversations of youth.
I thoroughly recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys thinking about the effect of social media and apps on us and how they might change us.
The story revolves around a single dad trying to relate to his kids who are too caught up in online worlds to interact with him.
The novel is written in a very clever way, with the page divided in two for most of the novel. On one side of the page we have the story narrative, on the other side we have quick web stories. Some of the web stories are regularly updated, some of them directly or indirectly relate to what is happening in the ongoing main story narrative.
The dialogue is amazing, from officous teachers and social workers to racist sewerage workers, to totally unempathetic app designers, to the fragmented conversations of youth.
I thoroughly recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys thinking about the effect of social media and apps on us and how they might change us.