The Circle

My feelings about this book are difficult to separate out from a few facts:
1) I think we are entering the era of backlash against Dave Eggers but I still just love him, like, as a person and as an author who has written works that are important to me, as a person
2) I am an avid user of social media

Okay. So. I think this is sharply-observed and honestly some good technological guesswork. It's not too hard to imagine a world where Facebook has been replaced by the Circle. And I do think the privacy issues raised by social media, and by The Circle, are very important to consider.

It's not quite as Jonathan Franzen-y as, um, Jonathan Franzen, but it still feels a lot like it was written by someone who doesn't use or understand social media trying to explain the appeal of social media? Like, guys, it is possible to have meaningful connections over social media. It is! Stop acting like it isn't. That said, of course, it's also good to step back and think about what role social media is having in your life, and the difference between sharing voluntarily and the kind of dystopian total transparency that ends up happening.

It's a bit heavy-handed, as I think his fiction tends to be. I guess maybe his nonfiction is too, but it has a different feel... I guess by virtue of being “true” you can get away with more. Still, an overall good read and more of a page-turner than I expected.