Book Recommendation

I always have an audio book for listening to while working in the kitchen. I just finished listening to Feed by M.T. Anderson. It takes place in the future and follows a teenaged boy named Titus. Everyone has the feed implanted in their brains, and it constantly streams advertisements for the latest trends, things to do and buy, and responds with suggestions based on whatever a person has just thought about.

Titus and his friends meet a girl named Violet on a spring break trip to the moon, and Titus' life is forever changed. Titus forms a close relationship with Violet, who tries to fight the feed.

The language in this book is bad: vulgar and lacking in sophistication. However, I think the author was making a point. Not only does the feed dumb the population down, but their vocabularies are lessened significantly since no one bothers learning much beyond how to maximize the feed and follow the latest trends. It's also meant to signify a futuristic version of the typical teenage banter.

This book is a powerful look at a dystopian future in which corporations have taken over the world, turned people into worthless beings outside of the act of consumption, and made life little more than a restless search for the next big trend. A society that does nothing more than incessantly consume products cannot survive.