The Candy House by Jennifer Egan

This author is so interesting. This book is both on Obama's summer reading list as well as the New York Times 10 best books of 2022 so it is not just me who thinks so. It is much like the ground breaking book she wrote over a decade ago, A Visit From The Goon Squad, in that it takes a dispassionate long view of our culture right this minute, and then twists it one turn further to demonstrate the various disturbing places that we could end up should we not take a step back and plan our next step. Our cultural warning comes in the form of Bix Bouton, the founder of social media mega-entity Mandala. By day, he strides about in his trademark leather fedora, a legend, but one who is essentially friendless now that he has untold wealth and power. By night, he dons a disguise and sneaks into a discussion group of Columbia University postgrads, hoping to catch a spark of imagination. There is a lot of shape-shifting here, and also a lot to think about. Do not miss this one.