Feed by M.T. Anderson

For Titus and his friends, it started out like any ordinary trip to the moon—a chance to party during spring break and play with some stupid low-grav at the Ricochet Lounge. But that was before the crazy hacker caused all their feeds to malfunction, sending them to the hospital to lie around with nothing inside their heads for days. And it was before Titus met Violet, a beautiful, brainy teenage girl who has decided to fight the feed and its omnipresent ability to categorize human thoughts and desires. Following in the footsteps of George Orwell, Anthony Burgess, and Kurt Vonnegut Jr., National Book Award winner M. T. Anderson creates a not-so-brave new world—and a smart, savage satire ushering us into an imagined future that veers unnervingly close to the here and now.

nothing particularly spectacular or innovative in this satire. your usual too reliant on technology, enviromental dystopia. Skip.

M.T. ANDERSON

In a future, consumer-driven world, America's elite are given brain implant computer “feeds” at birth, which allows them to chat and communicate mind to mind. More importantly, the feeds allow corporations to market personalized products right into their minds, which they can then purchase with a single thought. Titus and his friends go through life using their feeds to lead them from one product-based thrill to the next, until they meet Violet during Spring Break on the moon. Instead of using her feed to speak, she likes to communicate vocally, and even tries to confuse the corporate marketers by ordering a wide range of random products. Titus and Violet begin to date, but Violet's eccentricities become too much for him when her feed begins to malfunction. It was difficult to connect with Titus's voice at first, but I think that that's part of Anderson's point. Without having to do anything for themselves, the feed people no longer know how to think or even speak meaningfully anymore. I'd advise this book for older, more mature teens because of drug scenes, frequent profanity, and (nearly) hopeless ending.