No One Is Talking About This: A Novel

Rest in Peace David Foster Wallace, you would have loved Barbie. We swim in a wretched sea of meaningless mush, and when you have to trudge through nothing but slop all day, every day, it gets harder and harder to not numb out. I really cannot emphasize it enough: there’s so much and it just keeps coming. There’s lots to do. There’s lots to buy. Th... See more

Once upon a time, the Internet was predicated on user-generated content. The hope was that ordinary people would take advantage of the Web’s low barrier for publishing to post great things, motivated simply by the joy of open communication. But then ad sales came into play.

That business model is still what most of the Internet relies on today. Rev... See more

But gradually, social-media users became more comfortable sharing intimate details of their lives with strangers and corporations. ... They became more adept at putting on performances and managing their personal brand—activities that might impress others but that do not deepen friendships in the way that a private phone conversation will.  On... See more

There is less time these days for anything other than economic survival. The internet has moved seamlessly into the interstices of this situation, redistributing our minimum of free time into unsatisfying micro-installments, spread throughout the day. In the absence of time to physically and politically engage with our community the way many of us ... See more