Universality by Natasha Brown

This book is smartly written and while short, it is not an easy read--don't be fooled by it's weight. The reason it doesn't rate more highly for me is that it is whip smart satire, but as I currently live in a country where The Onion is hard to distinguish from the actual news, it all makes it harder for me to appreciate. It begins with the kind of viral long-read article you might DM your mates, featuring an illegal lockdown rave by an anarchist collective squatting on a banker’s farm, an activist bludgeoned with a solid gold brick during the proceedings, and said banker – who wants his missing ingot back. Chaos, clicks and conspiracies ensue and it isn't even clear if it is real or fake. After a run at the privilege of living off your connections and your parent's cash, the novel’s focus shifts to Miriam ‘Lenny’ Leonard, a middle-aged, girl-bossing white lady columnist who rides the tide of demagoguery, seizing the opportunity for fame, riches and eyeballs at any cost. Lenny’s provocations are all too familiar in the present moment. Language becomes muddied, skidding from hot takes to fresh outrage all over again as she says the unsayable to feed the ghoul of populist opinion. Like I said, it is well done. and she isn't wrong, but I didn't appreciate it--bad timing on my part!