About the Book
Sloane Jacobsen is one of the world’s most powerful trend forecasters (she was the foreseer of “the swipe”), and global fashion, lifestyle, and tech companies pay to hear her opinions about the future. Her recent forecasts on the family are unwavering: the world is over-populated, and with unemployment, college costs, and food prices all on the rise, having children is an extravagant indulgence.
So it’s no surprise when the tech giant Mammoth hires Sloane to lead their groundbreaking annual conference, celebrating the voluntarily childless. But not far into her contract, Sloane begins to sense the undeniable signs of a movement against electronics that will see people embracing compassion, empathy, and “in-personism” again. She’s struggling with the fact that her predictions are hopelessly out of sync with her employer’s mission and that her closest personal relationship is with her self-driving car when her partner, the French “neo-sensualist” Roman Bellard, reveals that he is about to publish an op-ed on the death of penetrative sex—a post-sexual treatise that instantly goes viral. Despite the risks to her professional reputation, Sloane is nevertheless convinced that her instincts are the right ones, and goes on a quest to defend real life human interaction, while finally allowing in the love and connectedness she’s long been denying herself.
A poignant and amusing call to arms that showcases her signature biting wit and keen eye, celebrated novelist Courtney Maum’s new book is a moving investigation into what it means to be an individual in a globalized world.
Review:
Hmm. All right. This book was a little different for me, but I could understand (I think) what the author was trying to get across to readers and it definitely did make me think. The book focuses on our technology-driven society and trend forecaster Sloane. As someone who works in the social media industry, I am plenty guilty of being on my phone too much, and there were several interesting passages that I read. But very early on in the book I just couldn’t vibe with the story. I’m not sure if it was the plot, the writing, or simply the overall concept, but I just could not get invested in the story. Because I was interested in the theme of the book I really tried and even re-read sections that I found myself glazing over, but in the end it just could not hold my interest.
2 stars
